Battle for America
by TroyStardancer
Summary: The final in a series of Harry Potter and the New Marauders, Harry's first trip into America's Magical Society to battle Death Eaters.  This story will be printed in several chapters, the first published now, and new chapters will be published soon.
1. Chapter 1

**The New Marauders pt.3**

**Battle for America**

Chapter 11

A group of seven people walked briskly through the airport. Three girls and three boys followed the middle aged balding, heavyset man as he led them through to the outside. To anyone watching them, they appeared as nothing more than a group of kids following a man who was leading them out and home. If someone looked closely, they would not see anything different, or suspicious. The closest thing to being suspicious was when the balding man turned back and looked briefly at the crowd, then continued onto his destination. No one took note of this group, because if they did, they would see something impossible. As soon as this group walked through the double doors to the outside, they vanished. It was as if they walked through the inner door and into another world. In actuality, that was just what they did.

As soon as the group stepped through the inner exit doors, the balding guy suddenly shifted left, walking through the wall, which would be what muggles would see there, a wall. In actuality, the wall hid a secret doorway that only wizards and witches could see. This doorway led to an underground passage, in which the group began traveling. While traveling, the balding man began changing, his features looking totally different. Instead of a white, short, balding heavyset man, he became a tall, well built black man with long braids. The others changed also. Instead of a troupe of kids, they became six almost-adults. One male wore spectacles, and had brilliant green eyes and his head was framed by black hair which stuck up in the back. Another male had ginger hair, with pale skin and blue eyes. The third male was as tall as the black man, with a slightly round face and brown hair which was slightly less than bottom of the neck length. One female had long bushy brown hair framing her calculating brown eyes. One female had waist length blond hair and blue eyes, with a somewhat dreamy expression on her face. The last one had long red hair and brown eyes, and anyone can tell that she was the sister of the red haired male. What America did not realize yet, but the country was now host to the most famous living wizard from England, and maybe the world.

Harry Potter has come to America.

"So this is America." Ron commented, looking around the outside the corridor windows. He saw a level street, with buildings towering over the Street. A flotilla of yellow Taxis were parked on the side of the street, where they awaited passengers.

"You only see part of the largest city here." Hermione commented. "This is the city of New York, which size alone is almost the size of England."

"Bloody Hell." Ron said in wonder. " This airport could fit the Ministry of Magic, Hogwarts, and The Quidditch World cup!"

Harry was watching Troy as he followed. He noticed the American Wizard's shoulders were sagging. As he looked around, he saw that Troy had deep red eyes and large bags. It was a small wonder, Harry thought, as he remembered the ride here…

Harry never been in a Wizard transportation ship before, and was stunned at the simple design. The ship, maybe 20 feet across, had a small row of seats . In fact, Harry thought the outside of this ship looked like two giant saucers stuck together, one upside down and on top of the other. Hermione was very intrigued, and guessed that all (Mental, as Ron thought) the stories of UFOs and Flying saucers were actually sightings of Wizard transports. Troy was not able to answer her; he was too busy concentrating on flying the ship to the secret landing strip in America. The flight, Harry realized in shock, took less than an hour, 45 minutes to be exact, and it was still late night in America. Then Harry realized why Troy was so exhausted. He had to magically control the ship, keep it under a disillusionment charm, and land it safely without anyone in America noticing. To Harry, just flying the ship required a great deal of skill and magic…To do all three, was almost impossible, and Troy did it all by himself. It was here that Harry realized that Troy was, indeed, a very powerful wizard.

Now, reflected Harry, Troy looked about ready to fall flat on his face. He had to force the dose of Polyjuice potion down his throat, and stimulate him enough to swallow. Now that the trip was over, and they were heading to what Troy called a safe house, Harry predicted that Troy would need some time to rest before their excursion into America started.

"Are you OK?" asked Ginny. Harry noted that she too noticed Troy's exhausted look. The others were busy looking at this foreign new world from the windows. When Ginny asked, however, everyone looked at him in concern, noticing this for the first time.

"Yea, I will be." Troy answered tiredly. Seeing all their looks, Troy smiled. "I told you this trip would take a toll on me, but I got us here safely, and as soon as we clear this passage, we will be at the safe house, and there I can rest."

With that, Troy continued walking . The New Marauders followed silently.

Bellatrix looked at Selwyn and Travers with an air of interest. The fact that she was sitting in front of both of them instead of inside a tomb was something to contemplate. The simple fact was, Bellatrix learned of the Dark Lord's secret to immortality, and before she left for Azkaban, Bellatrix was able to procure the Horcrux spell. She placed the object in a hidden room in Grimmauld place, but could not get it back until Yaxley was able to break the Fidelius Charm. Once she was able to get her precious anchor to immortality, Bellatrix went on a special trip to Saint Mungo's hospital, where she hid the Horcrux inside the room of the one person she knew could be her vessel to returning, Barty Crouch Jr. His soul less and practically useless body was the perfect vessel to return back to life, since it knew magic. The day she was killed by Molly Weasley, Bellatrix was able to use her force of will to possess Barty, and was able to get him to leave St. Mungos. In time, she was able to use her power of the Horcrux to take over the body of the sacrificed woman, and now Bellatrix, in full possesion of her wand and a body, was able to return.

While she was possessing Crouch's body, Bellatrix read about the American Dark Wizards, and how much of a laughing stock these wizards and witches were. Bellatrix learned that the American dark wizards were very superstitious; they believed that a Goddess, a very powerful one, would one day lead them to take over the American wizarding community. Bellatrix laughed at this, but she also knew these misguided and clumsy wizards had their uses; Their zealotry of the belief in their Goddess of the Stars had made them manipulative and coorperative, and also very protective of their Goddess.

"So you are sure this Stardancer was in England?" Bellatrix asked Selwyn.

"Quite sure. I found this article written by Rita Skeeter. Apparently a famous wizard was spotted in the Ministry of Magic. Now she thinks it is Otis Jones, some Quidditch player here, but I had some Dark Wizards who knew him look around where Johnson usually is, and they confirmed that he was still here in America when the story broke, and he never left the country." He checked his notes. "Also the MacDonald Wizard; well, he is dead now. A dark wizard cursed him the day before."

"What idiot did that!" Travers exclaimed.

"He was dealt with." Selwyn answered, meaning that the wizard who killed MacDonald was also killed.

"But this Stardancer, how great of a threat is he?" Travers asked.

"It shouldn't matter." Bellatrix answered airily. "No American trained wizard could handle us."

"But you don't see this, my lady." Selwyn said. "I heard of this Stardancer. His family sent him to Britain to study at Hogwarts. He was sorted into Ravenclaw, and was such a powerful student and wizard that he was a Head Boy, got a special services award, and was a student known to get nearly perfect on his O.W.L and N.E.W.T. "

Travers winced at that. Only Dumbledore and Tom Riddle had ever been known in modern times to get perfect OWL and NEWT rank.

Bellatrix scowled at several American Dark Wizards and watched with dark amusement as those wizards suddenly looked away and began looking busy doing other things. Bellatrix's reputation as being a powerful and remorseless witch had gotten them both loyalty and obedience, and her displeasure had gotten the American Dark Wizards to fear her above even the Wizards opposing them.

"We must find a way to neutralize him." Travers said.

"We are working on that." Selwyn responded. "The high level Death eaters we got in the government have already put what they called an all points bulletin on him. We also have Americans place what they call a BOLO on him. That is called 'Be on the lookout for.' We have someone in their department with enough pull to convince the Muggle law enforcement agency here…..Called Federal Bureau of Investigation, or FBI for short, to place this BOLO on him."

Bellatrix nodded. If the American Wizard Government, already well infiltrated, was able to convince the muggle government that this person was dangerous and needed to be apprehended, then that would allow her to release some of her resources to other missions. But a thought occurred to her…

"Selwyn, does this Stardancer have a family? If he does, we maybe be able to…"

"Already on that, my Lady. We have imperuised a person close to him. She knows the family. Troy Stardancer is married to Krystal.." he checked his notes, "…Mageri. They have twin daughters, aged 3. She has gone into hiding after the BOLO and bulletin had been placed on her husband, but the source we have imperiused is an old friend of hers, and she would know where Krystal is hiding, and we could capture them if needed."

"Yes." Bellatrix said in satisfaction. "Capture them all, then we can ransom them for this Stardancer, and convince him to not oppose us, or give himself up. Then we will have them. Afterwards, we will show the American Wizards that it would be unwise to interfere with our objectives."

_Whatever they are_, Travers thought to himself.

Her name was Regina Hendricks. She was a witch. She was so short that many believed that she was a child. Barely as tall as an twelve year old, Regina was none the less a fully adult witch. In fact, it would be a double, or even a triple, take before people will realize that she is fully proportioned; she doesn't suffer from dwarfism; she isn't a midget. Regina was just short, and that fact she used for her advantage. Because she looked like a child, many people overlook her. If you look at her eyes, though, you can tell she was much older than she looked. Wearing her long black hair in a braid, Regina made herself look even younger, and because of that, she was perfect as an infiltrator. People tend to say things around children, things that they should not say aloud, thinking that children would not understand. Being a full fledged auror, and a loyal member of the Department of Arcane Affairs, Regina was able to easily infiltrate the dark wizard's stronghold, pretending to be a little girl bored or looking for a chance to play. This was perfect for her to be in the meeting Bellatrix, Selwyn and Travers was having with the other dark wizards and witches in America. She heard everything, a fact that nobody knew, and she had realized the importance of contacting the department. Sneaking out (by pretending she rolled a ball outside), Regina stepped outside and walked briskly away, heading for her safe house, where she can report in detail everything.

Harry had enjoyed the time in New York, While Troy rested in the Safe house, He and the New Marauders were led through the city by one of Troy's friends, a wizard named Mark Battles. Mark was even taller than Troy, but skinnier. He had a bald head, and a goatee that was graying, but Harry could tell he was once black haired. Mark greeted Troy as if he was his best friend, and filled them all in on what was happening. One of the news that the New Marauders learned was that a strange image appeared in the clouds a couple nights ago in Salem. When Mark described the image, Harry and the others explained what it was.. The dark mark, the mark of Voldemort. This was the confirmation that Harry needed that at least the Death Eaters were here, Selwyn and Travers most likely. They were the only Death Eaters unaccounted for. In the meantime, Mark was able to take them through the city of New York, hitting spots of interest, and places where there were wizards and witches. When they arrived back to the safe house, loaded with items from America, they arrived to see someone talking to Troy. At first glance, Harry thought Troy was talking to a little girl. But as they approached, Harry realized he was talking to a very short witch, one which looked to be as tall as a first year in Hogwarts.

Troy was talking intently to her, and Hermione said to Harry "Wow, she is short."

"But she is an adult." Harry said. Harry could tell she was; she wore adult clothing, ,a light blue thin strapped shirt and blue jeans that were form fitting, showing that she had an adult proportioned body.

"That is Regina." Mark said to them. "She is older than you guys, about 22. She is Brazilian, and works for the Aurors. She is about the best information gatherer you will ever see."

"But she looks like a kid." said Ron.

"Yea, and your point?" Mark countered.

Ron frowned, but Ginny picked it up instantly. "People tend to ignore kids. They sometimes say things that they believe children don't understand. Something they should not reveal."

"Precisely." Mark said. Mark frowned when he saw Troy's grim face. "Something's up. Lets find out what it is. " Mark led the Marauders to Troy, who turned and looked at them.

"Trouble?" Mark said when he saw Troy's face.

"I have a big problem." he answered. "Several things have happened. Thanks to our excellent intelligence source.,," he shot a meaningful glance at Regina. "..we have learned a lot. The Dept. of Arcane Affairs have been fully infiltrated, and they convinced the FBI to place a BOLO on me. Kevin may have been imperiused, for he isn't blocking the decrees happening in the Dept. Waverly is the next target, from what I gathered.. The dark wizards are planning on taking it over to capture the children , thus to get the cooperation from those opposed to the dark wizards. "

"There's one more thing." Regina said to Troy. When she related what she heard, Troy's eyes suddenly flamed up. He pulled out his wand and stood, but Mark stopped him.

"Troy don't!." Mark said urgently. He had some difficulty holding him.

"Mark that is my family in danger! You don't expect me to sit by and watch them get caught!" Harry and the others stood by the door when Troy broke free. Seeing them holding their ground, Troy said in an ominous voice "Get out of my way."

"Not good." Mark said to Troy, keeping his distance and walked towards Harry and the others. He noted that none of the six even moved to lift their wands. "Think Troy! You're about to blast six people who you asked to help you, all because of the news about your family. Now Wait.." Mark said as Troy was about to respond. "Take a look at all of them, and tell me if any of them has NOT lost someone important in their struggles. Harry has lost his mother, father, and Godfather. Ron and Ginny lost a brother. Neville has parents who were tortured into insanity. Let's not forget their friends and companions either. Lupin, Tonks, Sirius, even Dumbledore. And Besides…" Mark said logically, "The Dark Wizards don't know what we do about the imperiused spy. We can save Krystal and your children, and also trick them."

Troy stared at his best friend, his face tortured. He then looked at Harry. Harry felt relieved when Troy lowered his wand. The anguish on his face was still evident, but Troy now saw logic in what Mark was saying. He looked at Harry, and apologized profusely.

Regina, who had been silently watching, suddenly spoke. "now that hat is settled, I think I can assure you all of total success for whatever you all are going to do today."

"How?" Harry asked.

She didn't answer verbally. She just grinned and opened her purse. She reached into it almost to her elbow, and then pulled out a small carrying tray. In the tray was eight small flasks, about the size of small test tubes. Each tube was filled with a golden liquid that Harry and the others knew very well. The golden liquid seemed to froth and bubble in each container.

Harry looked at Troy, who seemed confused. "You never saw that potion?"

"No, I don't think I studied it in my NEWTs."

"Me either." Mark said, his face also baffled.

"It's called Felix Felictus." said Neville sagely. "and that means-"

"-liquid luck." Troy answered. "I studied Latin intensively while Auror Training. So you can actually make Liquid luck?" he seemed awed at it.

"Well, it is devilishly hard to do." Hermione said. "You have to do everything perfect for six months, and that is just to stew it. And if any of it goes wrong. That potion could be dangerous."

"Awesome." Mark commented. "So why don't people make batches of it?"

"Because dependency on it is also dangerous." Neville said sagely. "Continuously taking Felix Felitcus will make you foolhardy and extremely dangerous to your self and your friends. It is recommended that you only take a swallow or a teaspoon when you do take it. That would last about 8 hours."

"You know, you could have taken it during the Battle of Hogwarts." Mark commented.

"Bloody Hell." Ron exclaimed. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"Well if the Dark Lord ever returns, we will make it a note to take it next time we see him." Luna said sarcastically. This caused everyone to laugh, even Ron.

Her name was Cerina Leham. She was a good friend of Troy's and Krystal's. Being such a good friend, she had access to them easily. Cerina was sorted into the Zotar House in Waverly, and she was very brave and loyal to her friends. Cerina, when in control of herself, was force to be reckoned with: highly skilled in magic, especially charms, fearless, and a registered animagus, which she can turn into a raccoon. Contrary to her house mascot (the bald eagle), Cerina chose to become a raccoon, which to her fit her personality more. There was one problem right now for the beautiful lady with long brownish hair and tea colored eyes….she was not in control of herself.

Cerina was imperiused. Although she was good at Occumency and Legilimency, Cerina could have protected herself by reading the thoughts of someone who may do her harm. She did not expect Selywn to be the one who imperiused her. Selwyn, on a tip from a couple of dark wizards who knew the close friendship between the Stardancers and Cerina, used it to his advantage to ambush and control Cerina. Cerina was now in an ideal place for the Death Eater; she was in the same safe house as Krystal Stardancer, Troy's wife.

Cerina's job was simple; keep an eye on Krystal and report if she contacts Troy or prepares to move to another safe house. This was the reason Cerina spent more time eavesdropping on her, staying in the background and acting inconspicuous. Selwyn reasoned that Troy would contact Krystal and tell her some things that he and the others should know. When last imperiused, Cerina was also ordered to immediately summon other wizards when Krystal was ready to run. That would fulfill Bellatrix's order to capture her.

A strange sound caught Cerina's attention. Frowning, she eased behind the outer door and pressed her ear against it, so she could hear what was going on. The instant she did that, she knew her plans were to come ahead. Apparently, Krystal was using the mirror to communicate with Troy, and she was listening to the conversation.

"Troy! Thank Zotar! I was worried." Krystal said, her voice betraying concern and relief.

"No need to be, Things are going great here in London." Troy's voice.

There was a near minute pause, which Cerina thought that the mirror must have had some interference.

"So when are you coming back?"

"Next Thursday. That would give me one more day to do the Waverly lecture."

"So you want me to stay here until then?"

"No, Tomorrow I want you to take the kids and" a throat clearing "let your guards know you will be heading to the Cleveland Safehouse."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"The cash is on the train, the bank in Leham is too happy, and I will be finished here next Thursday. Be careful."

"Always."

Cerina eased away from the door and then headed out to another room. Once she was sure she was alone, she aparated back to where Selwyn was.

Harry watched as Troy communicated with his wife. He also noted that Troy appeared more confident once he finished communicating with Krystal.

"You think it worked?" He asked Troy.

Troy turned and smiled at Harry, a rarity these last couple days. "Rather it did or not, I have warned Krystal that she and the children are in danger. I even told her it was from Cerina."

"How in the world did you do that?" Hermione asked incredulously.

"Simple, using key phrases that me and Krystal worked out. You heard me say things are great here in London. First off, she knew I am not in London, plus when I said "things are going was great," it meant that what I was saying wasn't true. In case a Death Eater or Dark Wizard was eavesdropping, I figured I would at least warn her. I also said next Thursday I was coming back, meaning that there was someone inside the safe house who she should not trust. She knew I would not openly say I was coming back, and that was for the benefit of an eavesdropper. The Waverly lecture statement meant that they know she was there, and Gem and the children are in trouble."

"Gem?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Krystal's nickname. When you meet her later tomorrow, you will see why."

"So we are going to Cleveland?" Ron asked.

"No, that is another code phrase. I would not openly tell her to move to the next safe house. My guess is that the Death Eaters would try and ambush her there, since Cerina knows where the Cleveland safe house is. What we are planning to do is give them a nasty surprise."

"So how did you warn her that Cerina was the infiltrator?" Neville asked.

"The last statement." Troy answered. "I told her the cash was on the Train, and the bank was too happy."

"Which meant that Cerina was there, and she was working for the Dark wizards." Luna said suddenly. "how clever."

"How in the world did you figure that out?" Troy asked, confused.

"Because the statement you made did not make any since to me. After you told us the key words, I figured that the subject was cash…meaning that the first letter in the subject was the key to figuring out how to warn of the infiltrator. C. Then you said the bank in Leham, meaning that the place is actually the surname of the infiltrator. You told us Cerina's last name was Leham."

To Ron and Harry, it seemed that Luna was talking nonsense. But they were startled when Troy suddenly laughed and said "Luna, you are truly a fellow Ravenclaw. Wit beyond measure…"

"Is man's greatest Treasure." Luna finished the old Ravenclaw theme.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

Cerina had become harder to keep imperiused, Selwyn realized. After he placed the curse on her again, Selwyn noticed a slight narrowing of the eyes, and rapid blinking. This proved to him that she was getting resistant to the curse. However, after a long session, he finally was able to place her again under his control. This time, though, Selwyn had a mission for Cerina.

Cerina had already warned the Group about Krystal's imminent flight to the next safe house. Her duty was to appear at the safe house right after Krystal had left. After careful prodding, Selwyn knew the location in Cleveland, and had set forth several American Dark Wizards led by Dusty Jarvis, a high level American Death Eater who Selwyn and Travers agreed was fit for leading, as well as somewhat trained in using both the Cruciatis and Imperius curse (neither of the three Original Death Eaters trusted the American ones about the Killing curse). The plan was simplicity itself: When Krystal Mageri-Stardancer appeared out of the fireplace (where she would use the flue network to get there) the five wizards would stun her and the twins, then quietly take them to Bellatrix. The plan was foolproof; no one knew they would be ambushing the witch, and hitting her before her husband came back from England would place Stardancer, and no one would know. Then, Selwyn thought, they would get rid of Cerina. The plan, the ambush team thought, could not fail.

Cerina watched the heavily cloaked Krystal gather the children and prepare them for departure. Looking unconcerned, even bored, Cerina was fitting in nicely as her role of informant while being imperiused. She watched in grim satisfaction as Krystal prepared to enter the flue network, already reaching for the powder. She looked a little confused when Krystal cursed silently.

"What is wrong?" Cerina asked as Krystal looked into the cup by the fireplace.

"I placed the wrong powder in the flue, could you hand me that little shovel? I have to get this out and place the right flue in here…"

"Sure." Cerina said unconcerned. If she wasn't imperiused, Cerina should have known that flue powder was universal … and that Krystal asked her to do something totally redundant. Flue powder worked when you sprinkle it into the fireplace and call out where you wanted to go. This confirmed to Krystal that Cerina was working for the Dark Wizards also.

Cerina picked up the shovel, not even thinking about it, and was prepared to hand it to Krystal… when suddenly, with a startled yelp, she was grabbed and hurled as if a giant hook grabbed her and pulled her ahead. Spinning dizzily into emptiness, Cerina could do nothing but scream in surprise. Briefly she realized the spinning slowed, but she was falling heavily back onto earth. Landing hard, with a grunt of pain, Cerina found herself face down in a grassy field. Raising slowly, with her wand in defensive mode, Cerina wondered what had happened. Suddenly a voice spoke behind her.

"Hello Cerina." said a familiar voice behind her.

Cerina whirled around, wand at the ready, and nearly dropped it in surprise. "Troy?" she said in shock. "What are you doing here? You should still be in London."

"Really." Troy said grimly. "And how would you know that?"

She frowned. Then she tried a different approach. "Why where you in London?"

"You should know that. You were fully briefed in my mission."

Cerina glared at him. "How would I know that?" She then realized, too late, that she was tricked. There was nothing left to do. She was discovered. However, she did have an advantage. Her wand was out, and Troy was just standing in front of her, arms folded, not even tempted to raise his wand. She thought she had the advantage…. Until-,

"I wouldn't." said an unfamiliar voice behind her. Cerina whirled around, casting a stun at the person behind her, only to watch it deflected almost back to her. Dodging, she prepared another spell at the bushy-haired female, only to be hit by a red bolt from a spectacled male beside her. Cerina's consciousness spiraled into darkness, and she seen no more.

The fire from the flue network startled Harry, even though he knew someone was coming. A stooped female, holding the hands of two very little girls, stepped out. The two girls squealed, let go of the woman's hands, and ran straight into the arms of Troy. Harry watched the reunion with a smile. Curiously, Harry noted both girls only vaguely looked like Troy, more in the face. Their skin was lighter, much more tan. Their hair was longer also. Both had long black hair tinged with red, reaching to their lower back. Harry turned to the stooped lady, who took off what appeared to be an old lady's heavy hooded cloak and stood upright. Harry's mouth dropped.

Standing straight now, the woman in front of Harry was nothing short of breathtaking. She was tall, at least as tall as Neville. Long reddish hair, almost glowing red, cascaded down her back. Her green eyes were a shade darker than Harry's, almost emerald color. Her skin was pale, though not as a typical red haired lady, more like not being out in the sun. her face was perfectly formed, with thin red eyebrows and eyelashes so long they almost touched her cheek. She wore a blue corset, tied in the front, and a short black skirt that was about 2 inches up her knees. Her boots, however, were tall, and ended somewhere under that skirt. To Harry, she looked close to his mother in the face, so close he wondered if she was in any way related to him. Harry watched with a smile when this woman walked over to Troy and hugged and kissed him. She then turned to Harry and the others after releasing Troy.

"My wife, Krystal." Troy said, smiling. "This is Harry Potter."

Now Harry knew why Troy called her Gem. Her hair was flaming red, almost ruby colored. Her eyes were almost like two emerald orbs. Harry saw Krystal look at him with interest, and almost unconsciously her eyes strayed to his scar before looking back into his face. It struck Harry as odd that when he met Troy, he never looked at his scar. Harry saw Krystal tilt her hair curiously before speaking to him.

"This is Harry Potter?" Her voice sounded sweet, almost child like, yet Harry could tell she was at least as old as Troy. "He really doesn't look like a hero. That is what makes a great hero." Harry looked at her curiously. She then frowned slightly. "You know, you remind me of some of my cousins; could we be related in any way?"

"I was thinking the same thing." Harry responded. "You resemble my mother a bit. You're just as beautiful also."

Krystal smiled at that as Troy introduced the rest of the English group. Harry noted Krystal's reaction to names and some of their achievements. It seemed Krystal looked a differently at Hermione, and noted that it may be her pure blood stature, and she may think like the Malfoys. In actuality, Harry learned that Krystal was impressed with Hermione's cleverness and intellect. Harry also noted that Krystal was very intrigued with Neville, and his adeptness in Herbology; they often talked shop. Harry learned that Krystal was very much interested in Herbology, though Troy told him that she great at Charms.

Harry watched as Troy and Mark stood in front of Cerina. She was strapped in the chair, kept stupefied, and watched closely by Ginny and Luna.

"You think this will work?" Harry asked.

"It should." Mark said, "The water is enchanted with the Thief's Downfall. It erases all enchantments…but she won't be happy when you dump it on her." He added to Troy, who simply shrugged. Harry remembered the time he, Hermione and Ron encountered the Thief's Downfall when they infiltrated Gringotts. He suddenly felt like laughing, then shook his head, wondering if he was going crazy.

Troy picked up the bucket, stood over Cerina, and dumped the bucket of water over her head.

Cerina jerked, screamed, and kicked about, shaking the water all around. She panted, spitting out water, then turned and looked at Troy, who stood over her with the bucket in his hand.

Her eyebrows lowered ominously, and she said in a deadly calm voice. "You better have one damn good reason for soaking me."

"I will, but first, you must tell me something."

Cerina looked around, she saw that she was strapped in a chair. "What the Hell…?"

"Cerina…" Troy interjected. "Do you remember anything?"

Cerina glared at him, about to unleash a string of explicative, but suddenly stopped, looking around in confusion. "Where am I?"

"Cerina, this is important, what was the last thing you remember doing?"

Cerina looked at him again, frowning. Then she looked away, her eyes going unfocused. " I remember following Murray Green. He seemed to be heading off 1st street. He rounded the corner, and then….I find myself tied up and wet." she gave Troy a hard stare then.

Troy nodded, then asked her "what creature sat in the far corner when Cerina first entered my office?"

She looked at him incredulously "Are you crazy?"

Troy repeated the question, more forcefully.

She blinked, shocked at his coldness. "A stuffed wolfentinger."

Troy nodded, satisfied. He pointed his wand at the ropes holding Cerina and said "_relasho_"

The ropes binding Cerina suddenly dissolved. Cerina rose, shaking the excess water from her hair, then stared hard at Troy "Now that your interrogation is over, mind telling me what is going on?"

"Mark?" Troy said, who nodded. "Mark will fill you in, right now I need to talk to Regina.

A long day was finally over. The Safe House was secured, and the plans were done. Everyone in the safe house were pretty much tired, and were bidding each other goodnight. Tomorrow would be a long day also. Harry was impressed with Cerina, she took the story of her imperius curse with a bit of anger, but controlled. She also was very good at Transfiguration, able to turn three sheets of paper airplanes with notes into jets, which took off in three separate directions. Those notes were to others in hiding, and their small size made it more difficult to intercept them. As the others were preparing to sleep, Harry decided to wander a little bit more around the safe house. He noticed a door opened, and decided to enter.

He saw Troy sitting beside a fireplace. The light was low, but he could see Troy well enough. Troy was wearing a long robe, one for covering nightclothes. He was sitting there, staring hard into the green flames that was in the fireplace. Although he did not turn when Harry entered the room, he seem to know Harry was there. Harry sat down in a comfortable chair not far from him, but remained quiet, not knowing if Troy was studying, thinking, or what. One minute later, Troy finally spoke.

"I know you are wondering about how I know your father. You may also wonder why I know him so well, being about six years younger than him. Why would your father and I be friends? We were in different houses; he was in his last year as I was in my first; I was American, he was British."

Harry was actually wondering that himself. It seemed to Harry that Troy and his father had almost nothing in common. And yet, He could see that Troy knew his father; though he really haven't spoken about it except when Harry first met him.

It was then that Troy turned his head and looked at Harry. "I will tell you how James and I became friends, along with Sirius. But in order for you to understand how we became friends, I must explain my story about my first year in Hogwarts, and what was going on." Troy took a deep breath, and Harry watched him collect his memories.

_Troy's story about meeting James Potter._

My parents decided to send me to Hogwarts once I became 11. The reasoning behind it was the history of my family. My two brothers and sisters ahead of me were American trained, and yet, because of the history of a Stardancer going insane dogged our family. Though one of my descendants solved the Kobold problems, several of those descendants had sanity issues. Since I was the youngest, and according to my father, the most gifted in magic, he wanted me to be better trained, and possibly not deal with the Stardancer legacy. He was wrong about the legacy though.

I was accepted, and sorted, into Ravenclaw. My first week was actually pretty good there; people in my house were friendly, the classes were demanding but ok, and I was learning a lot. I was happy. Then the bottom fell out of my world. It was caused by someone who looked for trouble, and was happy to notify everyone about it….Rita Skeeter.

Skeeter learned I was in Hogwarts and printed the whole bad side history of the Stardancer family. No mention of our accomplishments, just the insane parts, the ones about a descendent being a cannibal and ate his stillborn child, one who had sexual relations with his aunt, producing two inbred children; three who were killed when they tried, and failed, to transfigure a speeding train heading right at them when their car was stalled. And other things. She never mentioned the kobold solving; the bringing of peace between the wizards and Dwarves, The Stardancer who made the first euphoria potion, a descendent whom I was named after who saved several magical creatures who were hunted to near extinction, and other achievements. When people read this, several families wanted me out of Hogwarts; the strongest was a young Governor by the name of Lucius Malfoy. My classmates and housemates were avoiding me, and I was basically treated like I was insane. Then came the incident with the Slytherins.

I was studying in the library, no one there. Three Slytherins walked in. I remember them as if it was yesterday. The three third years began to pick on me, calling out my family's insanity, and bullying me. So instead of listening to it, I decided to leave the library. They taunted me more, but I didn't say anything. When I left the library and headed for the bathroom, I did not realize that they followed me there. It was there that their taunting and bullying became violent, laughing and pushing me. Finally tired of it, and preparing to defend myself, I decided to fight back. I actually held my own very well while dueling them until one of them cast the cruciatis curse on me. They left me there, screaming in pain, and the person who found me thought I was having a fit. Of course, no one believed me when I told them what had happened, and people began to really think I was insane. But I decided, against my better judgment, to get back at Rowle, who did the curse on me. I found him alone in the History of Magic room. It was there that I jinxed him, burning off his eyebrows. Unfortunately, Professor Binns saw me do that, and sent me in detention. Apparently doing that caused an uproar, and I was tormented because I cost Ravenclaw 100pts, due to Rowle embellishing my jinx. So I was stuck in Binn's detention, hated by my house, and very close to being sent home. It was too much. I was crying about my fate. While I was in there, I suddenly realized that I was sharing detention with two seven year Gryffindor. Both sit beside me, and I was between them. They saw me crying, and one of them talked to me. That person was James Potter.

James was in detention with me, along with Sirius Black. Both were there for something they did to a Slytherin, whom I found out was Snape. James managed to get me to tell him what happened, and I was so upset that I told him everything. Sirius had kept his arm around me, and both tried to cheer me up. I was grateful, but I thought my fate was sealed. I had to meet with Dumbledore, who was weighing on me being expelled. James and Sirius followed me, and encouraged me to tell my story, word for word. That I did, and Dumbledore not only decided not to expel me, but also wrote a rebuttal to Rita's column, which told of all my descendant's accomplishment. Meanwhile, though I did not know it at the time, James and Sirius was telling everyone how I held my own against the three Slytherins. When I went back to my house common room, I was cheered. From then on, I was welcomed back into Ravenclaw.

That might have been the end of it, but apparently something was being planned around Christmas break. It seemed that Rowle and two of his comrades realized that I was staying in Hogwarts for the holidays. Apparently someone heard them planning a nasty little trap for me, and warned some people. I never knew about this at the time, because I was suddenly and pleasantly shocked when James and Sirius _insisted _that I accept an invitation to stay with them during the holiday break. So I left Hogwarts with James and Sirius, and enjoyed a wonderful holiday with them. It was there I first met your mother, and also met Remus and Wormtail there also. Although you have every right to hate Wormtail for betraying your parents, he was actually a delight to be with during the holidays. I learned that The four, Lupin, Pettigrew, Black and Potter were secretly nicknamed the Marauders, and they were Animangi. I decided to keep that secret, because Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs were very powerful wizards then, and I was glad to be their friend. It was there that James helped me learn to fly Brooms; Sirius taught me some tricks about motorcycles; Lupin helped me learned some things about dark creatures (though I never knew he was a werewolf until about 5 years ago, when he wrote me about it); and Pettigrew taught me some really serious counter jinxes and evasion tactics. I found out later that it was Wormtail who tipped James and Sirius off about the ambush plan, as he was the one who overheard it.

You know Harry, it wasn't just my first that James and Sirius watched out for me. They also invited me to stay with them during the holidays on my second and third years at Hogwarts. It was my third year that I finally realized the total scope of the problem with Voldemort and the Death Eaters. You were just born, and apparently the prophecy had been foretold. Though I spent the Holidays one last time with James, Sirius and Lily, I learned several things. Both James and Lily's parents were dead. Sirius, Remus and Peter were deeply involved with helping your parents hiding, and dark times were vast then. I was not able to contact and correspond with James as much as I could with Sirius, and Remus was basically entrapped with his disorder, though I did not know that at the time. I still have James's last letter, and I will give it to you soon. I heard about the deaths of James and Lily, and your survival around mid term of my 4th year. Though I found it hard to believe, I had to accept the fact that Sirius may have had something to do with their deaths…..no, Harry, I know he didn't. I learned from both him and Remus later on. I was basically devastated about what happened, but I also was happy about your survival. I only saw you during the third year holidays; you were about 5 months old then.

Harry, your father was an amazing man. He had a penchant for trouble, but he was very resourceful and kind to his friends. He was compassionate to me, and he was a good friend. Sirius was more a daredevil, but he also shared James's compassion to me, though I felt him to be a little more pompous than James; he was still a good friend. Remus, what can I say about him? He was perhaps the most even tempered of them all, rarely getting mad, and sometimes was the voice of reason when James or Sirius had some random scheme that would land them in trouble. Peter was someone whom I hadn't had as much to deal with. He seemed to have two conflicting personalities then. He seemed to be a person who ignored me if it was me and him around, and seemed to me to only talk nice to me if he was around the others. But when he was around the others when I am there, he seemed to be more enjoyable. I should have saw his two face personality then, but I was naïve, and thought it was because he had other problems, Mainly because by the time I was in my third year I was taller than him.

But I must confess to you Harry, your mother was perhaps the sweetest, most compassionate witch I had ever met. She saw good in everyone, and made everyone happy by her personality. Not only that, she was gifted in all kinds of magic. She made me feel so much at home when I was visiting that I almost stayed there for the summer before my 4th year. However, they had to go into hiding, and there hasn't been many days gone by that I haven' thought about them.

When Troy finished his story, he looked over to Harry. He saw that Harry had a tear running unchecked down his cheek. Troy got up and pat Harry's hand. He noticed that Harry was not sobbing because of loss, he was crying happily about the boon that Troy gave him, talking to him about his parents. Harry had a deeper understanding of the compassion of his parents and the marauders. Harry and Troy bid each other goodnight, and Harry went back into the sleeping room he shared with Ron and Neville. When Harry closed his eyes to sleep, he was more at peace with the loss of everybody dear to him, and now he felt more calm than he ever felt, despite the fact that he knew that the Battle for America started tomorrow.

**End of part II.**


	3. Chapter 3

The five of them moved purposely through the narrow tunnel. The only light was by five wands shining just enough light to see through the tunnel. This tunnel, Troy explained, led directly to a secret room beside his office at the Department of Arcane Affairs, where he was taking Hermione, Harry, Regina, and Mark. When it came to watching the rear, Regina was Troy's choice, even above Mark. As they rounded a corner, the five ran into what appeared to be a solid stone wall. Troy waved his wand in front of the wall, and a door appeared. Slowly, Troy opened the door and entered, followed by the others. Harry was immediately struck by the largeness of this room. The room looked more than sixty feet wide, and was basically just a room with two overhead lights. The ceiling was low, maybe seven feet high. And the floor was checkerboard patterned.

"No one knows about this room?" Hermione asked.

"A few, like me, Regina, and maybe a couple others." Troy answered. "It is connected to my office and the Secretary's office, though I don't know if Kevin knows it right now." Troy walked to a side wall, uttered two words, then raised his wand. The wall there revealed a little window, which, if Harry could tell, peered into the work area outside the Offices of the magical Government here. The five watched the area intently, though Harry could not see anything wrong, apparently Troy could.

"I don't like this." he muttered.

"What is wrong?" Harry asked.

"Too many people out there." he answered. "Far more than a normal work day should be." He looked over to the side. "There." he said.

Harry followed his gaze and noticed a middle aged balding man walking from the area near an office. The man looked familiar, and Harry frowned. Where had he seen him?

Hermione, however, recognized him. "Isn't that the one you modeled with the Polyjuice potion."

"Yea, that is Ernie Conner. He is one of the few people I can trust right now." He frowned. "I wonder why he is standing? He usually sits in a cubicle close to my office. " Troy squinted and stared at his office door. "So someone has taken over my office."

The coldness of his voice was not lost to Harry. Harry watched as Troy looked around again. "The lunch klaxon will go off soon. Be ready."

_Be ready for what? _Harry wondered. About three minutes later, he found out. A foghorn-like sound enimated from the walls beside him, almost making him jump. Harry saw Troy make a tossing motion with his wand, towards the person he knew as Ernie, though he didn't see any spell or anything release. The tossing motion did, however, have the desired effect; Ernie stopped, eyes widened, and seem to stare directly at the window where Harry was watching.

"Can he see us?" Harry whispered.

"No, no one can." Regina answered. "He does, however, know we are trying to contact him." She then paused, watching.

Ernie didn't look suspicious or anything. He just followed those out towards the lunch. Once everyone departed. He looked around cautiously, then headed straight for Troy's office.

"Come on." Troy said cautiously. He led the others to another wall, then walked through it. The others following him.

The first thing Harry noticed when he walked into Troy's office was that several cabinets were in disarray; some were opened, their contents spilled on the floor; some were blasted by spells, but seemed too magically protected to be opened. His desk, a large L shaped one, was basically raided; Drawers were opened and their contents spilled out, several of them were damaged. But what sat at the corner gave Harry pause.

Sitting at the corner of his office was….something Harry never saw before. It was an…animal? Creature? Thing created out of nightmares? The creature at first looked like a rabbit, complete with the fur color and the cotton like tail. Any resemblance of the cuteness of a rabbit ended there. The "rabbit" had _wings, _two dragon like wings. It also had…antlers?, antlers that looked like a stag's antlers. The creature also had two tusks jutting from each side of it's mouth. But the eyes, the eyes disturbed Harry the most…The eyes were the eyes of a poisonous snake.

"What is that?" Hermione asked, horrified.

"A Wolfentinger." Mark answered her.

"A what?"

"We'll explain later." Troy said, watching as his door opened. The balding man Troy had signaled walked in and said breathlessly "You're here!"

He then looked around at everyone. "And I see you brought guests."

"We'll do cozy catch up later." Troy warned. "Right now, I need some information. Mainly, why are there so many people here? And what is happening with Kevin?"

"The second question, I can not answer. Hardly see him, and when we do, he is with this brutish looking bearded man. He then tells us decrees then sequesters himself in his office."

"This man with him, does he talk? And if he does, does he have an English accent?"

"Yes to both."

"Travers." Hermione said. Harry nodded in confirmation.

"As your first question, I know more about it." Ernie petted the wolfentinger's head almost affectionately as he talked. "Apparently late last night, a raid happened. Every office was hit, as you can see with your office. The place looked as if a tornado hit it. Files, paperwork, spells, everything thrown all over the place. The Mystery section was hardest hit; every thing was thrown everywhere in there. They must have tried to get into that locked room. You know, the room no one has ever been able to get into. The door took some hard spells, but failed to bulge. You could see the marks on the door. Looked like the raiders tried every spell known to open that door, but nothing harmed it." he then paused, reflecting. "You know, that Travers guy tried spells on it when I was around, but he didn't succeed in opening it. Whatever is in there, they apparently want it. The extra people here are security and maintenence"

"Thanks." Troy said briskly. "You better head off before someone wonders where you are."

Ernie grunted, got up, and looked speculatively at Troy. "You know, the Secretary is thinking about putting an A.P.B. out on you. There is also a two hundred-fifty thousand florin bounty on you."

Troy frowned at that. "Thanks." As Ernie opened the door to step back out of the office, Troy called him. Ernie turned, and Troy, wand out, said "_Obliviate!_"

Ernie blinked, then looked totally blank as he closed the door.

Harry and Hermione looked at him in horror. "Let's go," he said briskly, leading the way back into the tunnels. When they got halfway, Hermione asked "Why did you do that?"

Troy turned to her, his face showing no emotion. "Making sure he doesn't remember talking to me, or seeing us."

"But that wasn't right! He was helping you."

"No, but it was necessary."

"You wipe his memory, a person who gave you information, a person who seems to be helping you!" Hermione was coldly angry.

"It was necessary." Troy repeated coldly.

Hermione nearly shrieked "Why!"

Troy stopped and turned to her. "You heard what Ernie said. Travers is with The secretary, which means that he is in a way controlling the department. The bounty on me is probably his idea, which means that Travers is perceiving me as a threat. Two hundred fifty thousand florin is a lot of money….enough to retire and live comfortably for the rest of your life. It is equal to almost a million galleons. You saw how Ernie looked at me when he said that. That is enough to make him think about turning me in. I know what you're thinking right now." He said when she opened her mouth… "I don't know if he would or not, but right now I cannot take that chance."

"And besides, he could also blurt out he saw Troy unintentionally." Regina added. "That would put the Department on alert, and may prevent us from infiltrating the offices safely."

Hermione nodded, though she still looked a little upset. Troy then pointed ahead. "We better get going."

Waverly Stood majestically on a large hill. This immense building served as a tuberculosis clinic in it's construction. Now it is the primary school for witchcraft and wizardry in America. The muggles in America rate it as possibly the most haunted house in the whole world. True, Waverly had ghosts; but mainly it was a safe place for the wizardry world to train their younger students. Though if muggles enter the area, all they would see is an abandoned sanitorium, with occasional glimpses of "ghostly apparitions and strange smells." The disillusionment charms worked wonders here. Right now, the school was within days of releasing the students back to their homes; the school was in it's final days of term.

Ron and Luna was traveling with Krystal and Cerina. They were planning on entering the school secretly and talking to the Headmaster of the school. The current headmaster, Shalamar, was a loyal friend of Krystal, and was the first Raga to become Headmaster since the school opened here.

Remembering what Troy said about the house of Raga, Ron asked Krystal if they could trust Shalamar. Krystal gave him a somewhat cold smile when he asked. "Is it because he is from a House similar to your Slytherin House that you ask me that question?"

Ron faltered, "Well, we know that a lot of Dark Wizards here come from Raga House."

She nodded. "True, we Ragas sometimes favor ambition and drive, sometimes by any means necessary."

It was then, Ron realized belatedly, that Krystal was also a member of the Raga House when she was in school. He looked horrified and prepared to stammer out an apology. But Krystal just smiled warmly at him and held out her hand. "Ron, you are right somewhat about Raga. But not all of us are like that. Some of us was placed into the House because the sorting hat here favors placing those of one descendent into the house of their forefathers. This was what happened to me, and what also happened to Shalamar. Well, Raga and proud, we usually say, but pride can work against you. Raga was not really a bad House to be in, though there were some who took the pride of Raga too seriously."

Though Ron felt bad about that, he felt proud that Krystal forgave him. Krystal called a halt. The tunnel that was visible to them….the "Death Tunnel" as muggles call it- in reality it was the area where first years entered the school- seemed to be guarded. Two towering figures, cloaked in black, stood silent vigil beside each corner of the entranceway. A chillness emanated from them.

"Dementors? Here?" Krystal whispered in horror. "Not a good sign. I think Shalamar may be in trouble. This way. " She motioned. Slowly, the four headed down towards a small creek. There stood a large flat rock. Cerina looked around, then…raising her wand, moved the rock revealing a dark hole. Krystal went to the hole and made a tossing motion with her wand. She then stood by the hole, waiting. Within seconds, a light appeared into the hole, slowly brightening until it was seen on the tip of a cane. Raising out of the hole, cane in hand, was a short male. He was barely as tall as Luna, but he looked more like a short Dumbledore- his beard and hair was long and white, though both were not as long as Dumbledore's. He smiled when he saw Krystal and Cerina.

"Hello my dears." Even his voice reminded Ron of Dumbledore's.

"Victor?" Cerina asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I felt the communications toss and decided it would be better for me to show up than Shalamar." He looked around conspiringly. "I don't know if you knew, but there are Dementors in the grounds, not by Shalamar's decree. For some reason the Government thinks that your husband is coming to take over Waverly and use the power to overthrow the Government." He said pointedly at Krystal.

"Like he wanted to." Krystal said, shaking her head. "Troy likes where he is. I don't think being the Almighty Secretary of Arcane Affairs would suit his tastes. Besides, we already have a decent leader."

"A leader who sends Dementors into our grounds, filled with eleven to fifteen year olds." He said bitterly. Krystal glared at him.

Cerina then said quietly, "There must be another reason the department would send Dementors in. Not for just Troy."

"You're right my dear." he said with affection. Cerina narrowed her eyes. "There was a couple raids here. One happened three days ago, the other about a week ago. The raid a week ago was very bad, many people scared out of their wits. But they didn't do anything more than terrorize the school. May have been an information raid. The raid three days ago was probably the result of the last one. This time, they broke into Professor Terrance's office and stole two time turners."

"Time turners?" Krystal looked confused. "What would they want with those?"

"Sounds like they want to go back in time." Ron answered. Krystal looked at him then back at Victor.

"Would you like to bring Shalamar out?" She asked.

Victor frowned, but nodded. Seconds later, they watched his light dim and then go out as he disappeared down the hole.

"Doesn't make any sense." Cerina said. "What would dark wizards want with time turners? No matter how hard they try, they could only go a maximum of twelve hours back."

"Must be another reason." Krystal confirmed.

For the first time, Luna spoke. "Why does Victor treat you like a queen, but dislike Krystal?"

That question caught both off guard. They looked at Luna. Then Cerina answered. "I think you may want to know the whole story about him. He is an ok enough person, all things considering."

"Considering what?" Ron asked.

" I was the one who cost him his Headmaster position." Krystal said bitterly. "He should basically keep his hands to himself."

Ron and Luna looked at her, seeing coldness in her beautiful face, and understanding the implications of what she said. "So why does he help now?" Ron asked.

"Atonement." Cerina said. She looked bitter also. "No one will believe it unless he presents himself as a changed person." She looked at Ron with Irony. "After fourteen years, he still feels he owes everything, even though he has proven himself time an again."

Two lights shone this time, one from a cane, one from a wand. Once again Victor appeared, this time with a tall male with Red hair and a goatee. This gentleman wore very expensive robes, green and black designed robes. Though he looked rather pompus and arrogant, he greeted Krystal with enthusiasim.

"Mageri! So nice to see my favorite student again! And Cerina! Nice to see you too."

Cerina actually smiled at him, though Victor looked properly subservient, an act that did not escape the notice of Cerina. "Sometimes I wonder why we use the sorting hat. It could sometimes be so inaccurate with me and you being placed in Raga. But sometimes it could be even more inaccurate, right Victor?" he said, patting his back. Victor looked at him with…._anger_? Ron thought. Chancing a glance at Krystal, he noticed that she had a curiously raised eyebrow.

"So tell me why Dark Wizards would want time turners?" Cerina asked.

A joyful laugh came from Shalamar before he answered. "Who knows what these strange people want? They think they are Wiccan, but who knows of Pagan religions right now?"

"But surely you must have suspicions.." Luna said. Shalamar looked speculatively at her as she answered.

"My dear lady…." she turned to Krystal, a questioning look.

"Raine." Krystal said, nodding towards Luna. "Raine Reasoner. And this is Marty Kilson."

Ron wondered at first why Krystal chose false names. Then he realized…something isn't right here.

"My dear Lady Raine. Time Turners are special magical items. But the only benefits they have is here in school. Since you can only go back in time so far, and must not be seen by someone who saw you prior to your journey, the only benefit of this object is to attend classes that have the time frame as another class. That way, you can take two classes at the same time. Many young Wizards and Witches gain valuable class credits for doing that." He paused. "Yes, it bothers me that the raid only stole time turners. But what real uses are they outside of school?"

Krystal nodded. "Thank you Shalamar. Cerina and I will take Raine and Marty and leave. We know the danger you are in meeting us."

"No Krystal. You are quite welcomed here." Though Victor looked a little upset at that. "By the way, Where is your husband? I would love to see him at the Waverly Lecture."

"He will be there." She assured him as she departed. The others followed. Krystal stopped and waited until she knew the flat rock was replaced, then she told everyone to hold hands. When they did, She apparated them away.

Neville and Ginny watched as Krystal and the others apparated back into the Safe House. These two had the duty to keep the safe house under the Fidelius and other charms. Mainly this was to keep them here as a Headquarters, but also as a means for the two to watch Troy and Krystal's two daughters, who were amazingly well behaved for being the "terrible twos."

"Wasn't Troy's statement about the Waverly Lecture a code meaning something is wrong?" Ron asked Krystal.

She nodded. "Shalamar was warning me that something was up, and the fact that Victor was with him told me that he suspects that Victor may have gone over to the other side." She smiled at Ron. "I am impressed."

Ron shrugged and hung his head slightly in false modesty. "Well, it was ok, I guess." Krystal noted that his sister Ginny rolled her eyes when he did that.

Troy's group arrived just before dinner. After they had eaten, all met in the sitting room.

"I don't get these raids." Mark was saying. "They tried to break into to the Mysteries Section. Steal time turners, and from what I heard, they raided the Magic Museium in Fitchburg and the Sorting stones of Maine. They only took things like a piece of meteorite and a rune stone."

"I don't think that the Dark Wizards know. But Bellatrix is ordering them to make these raids." Harry said. "She has them hitting these places with what appears to be an agenda for her."

"But why steal a Time Turner? Those won't be much use, despite the fact they are highly magical items." Ron said.

"A meteorite? What magic use is that?" Regina asked.

"And rune stones. Nothing really magical about it. They always were made to pretend to be magical, but there are very few stones that have any magical properties." Cerina commented.

"But what makes no sense is why Bellatrix is in America." Ginny asked.

"That, Ginny, is the question." Troy answered. "_Why is Bellatrix here?_ America has less wizards in this whole country than London, let alone Britain. We have over two hundred and seventy million people, and less than three million are fully trained wizards and witches. Sure we may have some with magical talent who aren't trained or schooled, mainly because of the philosophy here. Though America calls itself the Land of Tolerance, this country has little tolerance for things they can't understand, such as magic,,, and with the Baptist religion holding power in the Muggle community, witches and wizards are considered anti-christian. The Pure-blood philosophy in America would be a joke. I doubt there is one single true pure blood family in America. And the Dark wizards here, though organized now, would never had been if she wasn't here inciting them. They chose to be dark for their own personal gains, and almost never acted in groups. That was why our job was easy until recently. Dark Wizards were not considered a threat until recently. The most powerful and known Dark Wizards were Murray Green and Dusty Jarvis. Those two are more organized in their debauchery, and were doing just enough to attract the Aurors' attention, but not enough to do anything harmful until now. So why is Bellatrix, a dangerous and powerful witch, leave the more magical land of England and come to a much less magical land such as America?"

Everyone contemplated that. Bellatrix had no true normal reason for being in America. The raids she made recently were nothing more than thefts. Mostly useless items were stolen, items that had magical properties but were little more usage for the dark wizards. And the raids to try to open the Mystery section of the Department of Arcane Affairs were repelled by the magical door that kept its secrets hidden. What was in that room? Neville asked them what could be in there.

"That door was never opened, as far as I know" Troy answered. "The entire government was built around it. The first Secretary of Arcane Affairs was the one who sealed it. Only he knew what was in there."

"And he never told anyone." Cerina said. "Even his relatives did not know what was there. He died with that information."

"Could it have something to do with time?" Ron asked. "It has been known that Bellatrix stole a time turner." Hermione looked at him in shock, then remembered something.

"And there are some runes, that I have studied, has some form of Time magic on them." Hermione said.

Harry contemplated this. Time runes? A time turner? A meteorite? What does it all mean? He turned to Troy, who had sat down in the chair he saw him in when he told Harry about meeting his father. He stared hard into the blue flames of the fireplace. Harry was going to say something when he was stopped by Mark, who also noticed Troy's staring.

"What's he doing?" Harry asked.

"Putting it all together, looks like." Mark said. He turned to the others. "One thing about Troy, he will be sort of trancelike, putting things like this puzzle in his mind and try sorting it out. Ninety eight percent of the time, he figures out something. The other two percent he will place together once everything is researched. Part of his Ravenclaw training, I assume." He grinned at that.

After about five minutes, Troy turned to Harry. "What does Bellatrix want more than anything? I mean, she has to have desire or something that she would stop at nothing to achieve."

Harry looked at his friends. All of them had suggestions. As well as debunking of them.

"Maybe she wants to subjucate all muggles? She always thought magic was might." Hermione said

"Yea, but in a land dominated by muggles who would fight for their freedom?" Regina said. "The muggles here are much more offended by anyone trying to take away their freedoms."

"Maybe she wants to create an army and retake Britain for Death Eaters." Ron suggested.

"With these Dark Wizards?" Krystal asked. "Even Bellatrix would be frustrated with their personal agendas, not to mention their power." she shook her head. "They would be a comical army, easily eradicated by your ministry."

"Could she want to spread her philosophy of pure blood status?" Ginny asked. "I mean, she is considered pure blood, being a member of the Black Family."

"There are no pure blood wizards in America." Mark answered. "Hell, I don't know if there are any pure blood wizards in the world. I mean, you can be considered pure blood if you were the offspring of two wizards, but even then, your blood somewhere down the line was muggle tainted." Mark frowned. "Consider this, Harry is pure blood because of his parents being magical, but his mother was muggle born, so that means his blood has taint. Hell, even Voldemort was half blood, not even pure blood."

"Could she be trying to raise her power by creating a magical weapon? A super weapon?" Neville asked.

"Why would she want that?" Cerina asked. "From what you all told me, she thinks she doesn't need weapons like that… she could do it on her own."

"And time isn't really a weapon, I mean, with time you could go back only so far, and there are strict magical laws that apply to time." Mark answered. "Whatever she wants, Bellatrix seems to want it to involve time."

"That's it." Luna said. Everyone looked at her. "She wants to go back in time, to do something."

"Like what? What could she want twelve hours or so ago?" Ron asked. He looked skeptical.

"Maybe she is using the items to go back further." Luna suggested. "Maybe she wants to go as far back as she can, to fulfill her desire."

Everyone scoffed at that. "Luna, the only desire Bellatrix had was to serve Voldemort." Hermione said. "I mean, her greatest desire was to be by the side of the greatest Dark Wizard ever."

Harry then said. "Even if she could go back that far in time, she could not prevent us from beating him. I mean, we destroyed all his horcruxes, and I don't believe he would have made an emergency one."

Suddenly Troy arose. "I hate to say this Harry, but I think Luna is right."

"Huh?" Harry looked at Troy incredulously. "You think she wants to go back in time to prevent Voldemort's death?"

"In a way, yes." Troy said. He held up his hand as the others began debating it. "I think I got it. Bellatrix stole a time turner to see how it works. You guys know a time turner can only go back a certain time, and it's magic is such that if you see yourself in the future, you will go mad. Time Turners can be augmented, I believe, by time imprinted rune stones. But in order to do that, you must have a tremendous amount of magic, a source of magic so volatile and so raw it could actually fuse time. Perhaps that is why that door to the Mystery section is locked. There must be a source of magic there that can allow Bellatrix to augment a time turner with a time rune. It must be something very powerful in magic in there, which was why it was sealed."

"But wouldn't we still be battling Voldemort now?" Ginny asked. "I mean, our past is set, it cannot be changed."

"No, it cannot." Troy said darkly. "But what if Bellatrix goes to a time where Voldemort was not as vulnerable, a time where his power was peaked." He stared at everyone. "She could go to Voldemort right before he killed Harry's parents"

"Why then?" Neville asked. Harry was looking very upset then. "She can't change the past."

"No, but she could upset the magic Continuium. Destiny will struggle to reassert the pattern that time has set." Krystal said. "Voldemort, if I remember his name, Tom Riddle, is dead. There is no way she can prevent his death. But, she could try and bring a former version of him into this time. In a way, you cannot go into the future, because it is not set. However, a past version can bring someone to the future in a pattern similar to using a pensieve. They cannot affect a future, but they can see what may have happened to them. Therefore, Bellatrix cannot prevent Riddle's death, but she can show him how he died in the future, and let him decide the path he chooses."

"Which means, she is trying to go back in time and show Voldemort how he died, so he can prevent it." Troy said. "We must stop her."

"How?" Mark asked. "Troy, you must understand, you are a wanted man. To show your face would mean arrest or worse if they place an All Points Bulletin on you."

"You will be stuck here like Sirius was." Harry commented. Troy frowned at that.

What they were saying was true. Harry knew. But Troy was an exceptional wizard, and his help would be invaluable. Harry watched as he started staring at the fireplace again. Troy had a knack for figuring out things when he stared out into the fireplace flames. Harry turned to Mark. Their eyes met. Mark also knew Troy was figuring things out. Everyone remained silent while Troy was thinking. Finally Troy shook his head. "I know we are missing something here, but what?"

"Something to do with the time turners?" Neville asked. He shook his head.

"What about Bellatrix?" Hermione asked. Troy shook his head again.

"Wait, wait a second." Ron said. "Didn't you say Bellatrix had a raid steal a piece of, what was it called? Something you said was worthless." "Meteorite." Krystal answered.

"What is a meteroite?" Ron asked.

"Sort of like a piece of stone, or metal, from outer space. An item that fell to the Earth from space." Krystal answered him. "Usually these are just useless pieces of stone, ore, or something."

Troy closed his eyes and placed his hands on each side of his head. "Of course, Why didn't I think of that!"

Everyone looked at Troy when he said that. "I don't know how many of you have taken NEWT Ancient Runes, but I have. There are some rune stones which were inscribed that had unusual and highly magical properties. These were made from meteorites. No one knows how, but certain types of stones from meteorites could hold powerful magic, and inscribing powerful magical runes on them can do all kinds of things." He then looked dark. "Like magically seal containers and doors so well that only an item of similar quality could undo the magical enchantment.."

"Which was why the meteorite was stolen." Mark said, catching on. "Murray Green, if I remember back in school, excelled at Ancient runes, so he would know how to inscribe one to open that magical door."

"Hold on." Cerina interrupted. She was thinking hard. She then remembered something. "Before I lost my memory, I remembered seeing Murray enter a gate. It was an estate on 1st street. I remembered following him up to the gate…and then, that was when I must have been imperiused."

"The estate gate, was it large and wrought iron? With two large gargoyles on each side of it?" Mark asked.

"Yes."

"On 1st street? By the river?" Krystal asked, her eyes narrowed. Cerina nodded.

"And you could see the mansion was on the hill, a walkway that led to the mansion was tree lined?" Regina added in her question.

Cerina nodded. "I don't know who lived there, though."

"We do." Mark said, looking at Troy, who had a look both dark and horrified.

"Who lives there?" Harry asked. "And what does that have to do with Bellatrix?"

"It may very well be where she is laired." Troy answered. "That house was owned by the Lewis family. The Lewis family consider themselves the only pure blood wizard family in America, in their eyes. They also claim to be descendents to Merriweather Lewis, who was part of the Expedition to explore the newly bought Louisiana Purchase back 200 years ago. The Lewis family is similar to your Malfoys, except they take pure bloodness to extreme, even going so far as marrying their own relatives to stay pure blood. A perfect place for someone like Bellatrix to be hiding in. Though not classified as dark wizards or witches, they none-the-less favor Death Eater philosophy."

"Yea, but only one is still alive, a spinster named Drelphar." Regina said. She looked at Troy. "You think that is their headquarters?"

"One way to find out." Troy said. He looked at the others, who nodded.

Krystal frowned, then said. "I will stay here and watch the children. I will call upon Gary Bloom, Derek Branson, and Mike West and tell them what you got."

Troy shook his head. "Better send them to Waverly, and have them prepare the defence there if needed. I will take the others into teams to infiltrate the mansion. With any luck, we can end this tomorrow."


	4. Chapter 4

**Battle of Waverly**

The dark and stormy night at the safe house was enough to make everyone drowsy and sleepy. The outside storm was pretty noisy, but surprisingly comfortable to everyone inside, as they slept deeply. However, the peaceful rest was not going to last.

"Troy! Troy!" A voice rang out. Troy opened his eyes instantly, rolled until his feet hit the round, grabbing a robe, and headed out of the bedroom door. His wife, Krystal, was awakened also, and she was rolling on the other side when he opened the door and stepped out of the bedroom.

Standing outside the door, in the hallway, was a young black haired male. The male looked harassed and concerned.

"What is it Wade?" Troy said, recognizing the man. As he said that, Troy noticed the other bedroom doors opening and several people in various states of bedclothes.

"We just got word from Shalamar." said Wade. He looked like he just apparated in from the hard storm outside. "Waverly is under attack!"

"Another raid?" Regina asked. Harry was stuck at her outfit; she wore just an undershirt, barely covering her. Despite the fact that she was almost a foot shorter than he, Harry was well aware that she was an adult.

"Don't think so." Wade answered her. He too, noticed her outfit, but recovered quickly. "A raid usually had about ten people. They are especially serious about it right now. Derek told me he saw at least fifty in the group."

"Everyone, get dressed and ready." Troy said. "This is more than a raid." He turned to his wife. "I want you to take them there."

Startled, she looked at him. "What are you going to do?"

"Nothing. I am still wanted. I will stay here and set up a battle plan for the Lewis Estate." he smiled at her look of confusion. "I'll watch the girls also."

Harry turned and looked at Hermione. She too, looked baffled. So far, Troy has led them through the situations here. Why is he not going through this important incident? Even Mark looked a little confused. However, when Troy turned back, he glanced at Cerina, who stared at him in alarm.

Minutes later, the party, dressed and ready, stood in the center of the main living room. When Krystal entered, Harry was looking at her in concern, but she looked more calm than when she first talked to Troy. Harry was also struck with her outfit; she wore a short loose black skirt and a black shirt with thin shoulder straps. Completing the outfit was high black boots. She placed her hand in the center of the room, telling everyone to gather in a circle and touch her hand. As they did, they apparated out of the room.

Flashes of lightning and noises of thunder mixed with other flashes of light and sounds of battle. The party was instantly soaked, as the relentless rain pounded them. Talking loudly to be heard, Krystal told everyone to follow her. Already cold and wet, the party followed her through the wooded area. The stream that was running nearby was already overflowing.

"How long has it been raining here?" Ron asked. "That stream is already overflowing."

"It really doesn't take much to overflow that stream." Cerina answered, shivering slightly. A particularly close lightning bolt briefly illuminated her face. She then pointed at the rock. "There it is." Krystal then waved her wand, and the rock rose and landed beside the stream. Everyone entered the hole, which Krystal used a levitate spell to keep them from falling almost 20 feet into the landing of the tunnel. As the group hurried through the tunnel, several teeth rattling explosions and thunder set the group on edge. A tunnel was not the place to be in when there is explosions going on. Krystal slowed as she led the party by a bend. The bend revealed a three way fork in the tunnel. It was here that Krystal spoke.

"Ok…" She said all business. "Here is where we split up. Mark, you take Luna, Harry, and Regina down the gateway fork. With luck you can hit the flank of the attacks. Cerina, you and Wade take Ginny and Ron and go up to the to the main hall entrance. Terrance would probably be there. I will take Hermione and Neville with me to the Faculty and Headmaster fork. We should be able to converge and squeeze the attackers then."

Moving silently, the three groups headed for their destinations.

The sounds of battle were louder here. Mark slowly approached the end of the tunnel, where a door stood sentinel. He waved his wand at a spot on the door, and the party looked out the magical one way mirror. They watched as two teachers, both male, were back to back surrounded by what appeared to be twelve black robed wizards. Though both seemed to be heavily outnumbered, the group noticed several dark robed witches and wizards had fallen. The twelve still standing were concentrating on the two teachers, all of them pointing their wands at the teachers. Mark backed up and nodded at Regina. She smiled and pointed at the door. Mark said quietly, "Let's help them out."

The door did not looked to be opened, but Mark went through it as if it was. The others followed, wands drawn out and at the ready. The twelve dark robed wizards never knew they were there. . . It was short and quick.

"Terrance, you OK?" Mark asked as they looked around at the fallen wizards and witches around them. Before the Dark Wizards knew it, four of them were stunned and knocked unconscious. When they finally figured it out, they turned their attention to the knew threat, and realized too late that they were against four wizards and witches that were well trained in dueling. By that time, all had been disarmed, stunned, and defeated.

Terrance, a short and lanky wizard with short brown hair, answered, "Well done Battles. We were starting to get a little tired."

The other wizard, a somewhat taller one with long black hair, then said "Somehow they got into the castle and penetrated the defensive spells. They must have had someone inside working for them."

"Derek speaks the truth." Terrance confirmed. "Somehow they were able to infiltrate the castle. They took the entire Valimore House hostage, and trapped the Sallowday House. Even Professor Holmes was injured." Harry noticed that both Mark and Regina winced at that. "They must have sneaked up on her." Terrance then looked grave "They managed to kill Oscar."

Mark and Regina looked horrified. "We need to meet with Shalamar. Is he still in his office?" Regina asked.

"We think so." Terrance said, "We will lead you there."

"Look out!" Wade yelled as he pulled Ron out of the way, just as a blast of blue light hit the wall where Ron was standing. The witch who threw the spell began indiscriminately casting all kinds of bolts at the party who entered the great hall. Most where poorly aimed, and the rest fell off of shield spells casted by the party. Ginny then dispatched the witch with a well placed stun.

The group of four entered into the battle in the great hall, where nearly thirty dark wizards and witched were trying to bull their way through a group of five wizards and witches at the end of the hall. One of the dark witches happened to see them enter and attacked them. Soon a group of eight went to battle the newcomers. Ron and Ginny, side by side, defeated three of them quickly. Wade was dueling three at once, holding his own. Cerina had easily defeated the other two and run into the middle of the great hall, spells bouncing uselessly off her as her powerful shield spell protected her. As Ron and Ginny watched, awed, Cerina was taking the group out almost single handedly, and six or seven more had fallen as Cerina hit them with well placed jinxes and stuns.

Embroidened by four who had relieved them, the five that was at the end of the hall began an offensive as the dark group began focusing on the newcomers. Ron and Ginny help Wade defeat the dark wizards he battled, then joined Cerina and began systematically beating back the dark group. Five minutes later, the great hall was littered with unconscious and imprisoned dark wizards and witches.

"Cerina!" said one of the Wizard, a male with long black hair and a deeply tanned skin. He ran over to her and both embraced.

"Tony," She then turned to the others. "This is my fiance, Tony Mayes. He teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts here, and is head of the Zotar house." She turned to him. "We came as soon as we could."

Then you can help us free Valimore House." said a witch, who looked like a plump, white haired housewife.

"Free Valimore?" Wade asked.

"The dark ones managed to convince the Dementors to trap the Sallowday house." said Tony. "And several of them managed to get into the Valimore House. They are demanding that Stardancer surrender to them as soon as he gets here." There was a grim smile of irony on his face.

"So they think he is coming…." Wade said, shaking his head. "How stupid can they be?"

"Stupid is as Stupid does Wade." Said another witch, a middle age looking blonde. "We can try and free my house and then deal with Sallowday's problem."

Six people then ran into Great hall from the west. The great hall group had wands ready until Cerina and the others realized it was Mark's group. In silence, the expanded group began heading to Valimore house when the Castle shook very violently. Blasts and explosions reverted throughout the hallway, and everyone looked up apprehensively.

"Must be an intense battle above us." Cerina commented.

At about the same time that the other groups were battling at the gates and great hall, Krystal's group had arrived at the secret entrance to the headmaster's study. Before entering, they casted the one way mirror spell and peeked inside.

Shalamar was standing at the far end of the office, looking worn and tired. Five people were on the ground. Krystal was about to enter when she realized that someone else was in the room, more than one person. One was Victor. He was flanked by two dark wizards, and behind him was a stranger, a tall, brown haired male.

"That's Selwyn." Hermione whispered. "So he is here." Krystal nodded.

"Well, Victor?" Said Shalamar. His voice betrayed his exhaustion.

"I must admit, you had did your protections very good." Victor commented. "It took me a while to punch a hole into it and bring my friends in."

"Friends?" Shalamar said, his look of skepticism apparent. "I doubt you even know these people."

A brief look of confusion mirrored upon Victor's face before he looked indifferent. It was when he slightly shifted in a shrug when The group noticed that Selwyn, who was behind him, had his wand trained on Victor's back.

"Is he imperiused?" Neville asked quietly.

"I don't think so." Said Krystal. "I noticed that Cerina was glassy eyed when she was imperiused. I think he is in control of himself, but is involuntarily helping because Selwyn has him covered."

"Well, it will appear that Stardancer hasn't arrived yet." Victor said, his voice ever slightly higher pitched than normal. "He will surrender, or the Dark wizards will begin killing the students in Valimore house."

Shalamar looked angry then. "Your duties were to protect the students! Do you love Mageri that much to betray the school to get what you want!"

Victor then looked horrified. He couldn't cover his look of despair. It was then that Krystal used her wand and did a very slight tossing motion. Both Victor and Shalamar very briefly looked at where she was then looked back at each other. Victor sighed and then pulled out his cane. "I regret having to do this." Selwyn looked in approval, until Victor, with surprising speed, suddenly turned right and said "_Stupify_!"

The dark wizard crumpled and fell. Immediately Victor turned to his right at Selwyn, but being quicker, Selwyn had already uttered the horrifying spell. "_Avarda Kedavara!_"

Victor was shocked. The spell was not aimed at him, but at Shalamar, who took the full jet of green and fell backwards.

"NOOOOOOO!" The yell stunned the three left conscious and alive in the Headmaster's office. The statue that was hiding the secret door blew apart into dozens of pieces, and Krystal, her eyes blazing with hatred, ran out from tunnel, casting spells.

Selwyn was bare able to get his shield up in time. Victor had dispatched the second death eater and was also casting spells at Selwyn. His voice tight with anger, he yelled "You killed him!" The headmaster's door suddenly flew open and nine dark wizards entered, casting spells. Neville and Hermione then entered the fray.

Chaos reigned. Spells flew all over the office. The people in the portraits surrounding the Headmaster's office ducked and covered and watched in shock as the battle continued. Krystal dueled Selwyn as Hermione, Neville, and Victor held off the dark wizards. It was soon apparent that Victor was not as skilled in dueling as the others, but he accounted for four of the dark wizards before he was blasted away, groaning and grimacing in pain. Neville and Hermione, however, was so skilled at dueling that the other five never had a chance. They all fell.

Meanwhile, Selwyn and Krystal was in an epic duel. Both seemed to be equally skilled and both were determined to finish off the other. When Neville and Hermione finished off the wizards, the room suddenly began feeling ice cold.

Driven by the sounds of battle, three dementors entered. Their cold aura affecting everyone but Selwyn. However, before both Hermione and Neville could cast their charms, they both heard Krystal yell something they never heard before. "_Partronium Horriblis_!"

Suddenly, coming out of her wand, appeared a blinding silver light. The light took the form of a huge serpent. The serpent, however, had huge wings. These wings were also silver, and resembled bird wings. As soon as this patronus appeared, the dementors began backing up. They were soon fleeing, but did not get far. The winged serpent surrounded them in blinding speed. Neville and Hermione watched, fascinated, as the partronus surrounded the three dementors. An unearthly howl came from the dark beasts as it appeared that the partronus was _absorbing _them. In less than two minutes, the only thing left of the dementors were two black scraps of clothing. The patronus dissipated, and Krystal, looking drawn and weary, slowly sank to her knees.

"Where is Selwyn?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"He dissaparated.." Krystal said, tired but angry. "You can dissaparate only in the Headmaster's office, and only out. You can't apparate in unless you are the headmaster." Krystal crawled over to where Shalamar laid. His face calm and eyes closed, as if he was sleeping. Neville, kneeling on the other side, saw tears running unchecked down her face. She then rose up, Her face tear streaked and angry. Neville, irresolute, looked at Hermione, who looked at him with her face helpless.

All heard footsteps, and prepared for battle, when they saw Regina run in, Harry, Ginny, Ron and Luna behind her. Regina looked around in shock, then looked at Krystal. "We freed Valimore and Sallowday houses. The children are being evacuated now." She then saw Shalamar. She gasped in horror, then looked at Krystal. Her face was in sympathy. "I am sorry about your brother." she said quietly

Hermione and Neville looked at Krystal in horror. "Shalamar is your _brother_?" Hermione asked in shock. Krystal could only nod. She then turned to Victor. Harry and Ginny had him propped up and Luna was applying dittany on some of his wounds. Victor looked like hell, his face was bloody; one eye was closed, and blood was dripping slowly out of the corner of his mouth. He looked up in horror at Krystal, who stared down at him, her face unreadable.

Victor looked away, the enormity of what he caused affecting him. He couldn't say anything, he couldn't think of anything to say. He couldn't face Krystal at all. Nothing could change the fact that to him, Shalamar's last words rang true.

"_Your duties were to protect the students! Do you love Mageri that much to betray the school to get what you want!"_


	5. Chapter 5

"I really don't know what to tell you here." Tony was saying. "It seemed that Victor was working with the dark wizards under threat. He did attack them at the end. I feel he genuinely feels remorse for the death of Shalamar."

"What I don't get," Hermione was saying, "Was why Shalamar was calling Krystal by her maiden surname and not her name?"

It was Krystal, who sounded like she had heavy nasal congestion, answered. "Shalamar and I weren't full siblings. He was about 6 years older than me, we had the same mother. He always called me by my last name because Mageri was more for respect, and to cover our relationships with certain people."

The entire war party was meeting in the office of the deceased headmaster. Victor was placed into the custody of the campus security until his true loyalties could be determined. Krystal assured everyone that Hermione and Neville wasn't recognized by Selwyn, so the fact that Harry and the New Mauraders was not known to be in America. The damage to the school was minimal, but the fact that two wizards were killed, one being the headmaster, was enough to have the bitterness and sadness to weigh down upon them.

"So what do we do about him?" Cerina asked, pointing at a very dejected Victor. He had already handed Krystal his cane, and was weeping bitterly.

That was a fair question. He did help defeat the protections that the teachers emplaced on the school, but the fact was known that Victor was coerced. He was basically in a no-win situation. Victor did aid the dark wizards, but he also fought them. Though Krystal was leading this party, her decision would probably be biased. Krystal got up, walked to Victor, and stared at him, not saying a word, not revealing anything in her look.

Almost unwillingly, Victor met her gaze. It was the look of horror so heart wrenching that Hermione gasped in sympathy. The look he gave her was pure pain and sorrow, as if he was a man who despaired even living. For almost five minutes, all they did was stare at each other.

"What's going on?" Harry whispered to Cerina.

"Legillimancy. She is probing everything he knows about what's going on. The strange thing is, he is letting her see everything." Cerina frowned when Krystal suddenly looked horrified. She was even more stunned when Krystal glared at him, in disgust and anger.

'When this is over.." Krystal said, her voice low with rage. "You will present yourself to the council of Gramportaza. You _will_ tell them everything, and I will be there to make sure you do. Victor, you need help. You need to leave the school. You need to get away from your problem. If you don't, it will destroy you." Krystal turned to the others, giving Victor one last look of loathing. "We better go, the campus security will watch him." Harry noted that Krystal's voice became more stern and cold. Something she saw in legillimancy must have upset her. Harry knew not to ask. Sometimes things should not be brought out, and Krystal looked more than angry right now.

When they reached the gates out of Waverly, Krystal went inside her skirt pocket and pulled out a mirror. She was about to say something when she suddenly gasped.

"What's wrong?" Tony asked as he looked into the mirror. He suddenly turned pale. This caused Harry to look. What he saw confused him. Instead of seeing someone's face, he saw various little images all spread out and jumbled. He couldn't make sense of what he was seeing, so he asked.

"Troy's mirror." Krystal said, her voice concerned. "It's broken."

"You don't mean…" Cerina began.

"Either he dropped it…." Mark said, looking concerned… "or.."

"He was attacked." Regina finished. "We better apparate there."

"Not there." Tony disagreed. "But close to it. In case something is happening there."

Everybody held hands. On holding Krystal's hand, Harry noted that it was trembling violently. He squeezed her hand right before the apparation, hoping she would at least appreciate the gesture. It seemed to work, for she looked at him and gave him a half-smile.

The group had apparated about a block away from the safe house, and it was a good thing too.

"Oh no." Cerina said.

"What is it? And what is that inane screeching?" Luna asked.

"Fire Engine sirens" Regina answered. "The safe house is burning."

Now Harry could see it. The entire safe house was engulfed in flames shooting almost fifty feet in the air. He counted at least seven fire engines, with two more arriving. The muggle fireman were working hard, but this fire seemed to be fully engulfing the house.

"Troy, Melissa, Allison…" Krystal had yelled. She ran towards the house. The others ran after her, seeing her being restrained by a couple of fireman.

"Ma'am, you can't go in there!" said one of the firemen, holding her back.

"My family is in there!" Krystal said desperately."

"No, ma'am, no one is in there." Said another fireman, who was wearing a white helmet. "We made sure no one was in there. The building is abandoned when the fireplace blew up."

"But…But.." Krystal said, pleading…"I must know…my family."

Tony whispered to Ron. "We have to restrain her from using magic. If she does Augumenti, and put out the fire, the firemen will get suspicious." Ron nodded. He looked at Harry and Hermione sadly.

Harry also looked sad. The fire was immense, and if anyone was in there, they almost certainly would be dead, magic or not. He didn't know what to say. But suddenly something happened, something that changed the whole scenario.,

Harry actually felt something, like someone tapped him on the shoulder. He turned around, confused, because only Ginny was close to him. She was on his right side though. The tap was on his left. He turned, noticing that Ginny also turned, looking over her right shoulder. Both their eyes met, and Harry realized Ginny felt the same tap. Not only did they feel the tap, they also felt what appeared to be a beckoning…as if someone wanted them to come near the edge of the tree line off the road.

"You feel that?" She whispered. Harry nodded. He started over to the area. Ginny followed. They entered the woodland off the roadside. Harry noticed something silver, and realized it was a patronus. A silvery bear led them deeper in the forest. Ginny walked closely to Harry. He did not know this wood line, so he drew his wand, watching Ginny do the same. Then a familiar voice said something near him.

"Potter. Weasley, over here." Harry turned at the voice, his face betraying his shock.

"_Malfoy_?" Harry said, stunned. Standing just beyond a very large tree stood, indeed, was Draco Malfoy. He still looked the same, the blond hair, the superior smugness. But he didn't look as intimidating as he did in school. He looked back behind Ginny and Harry, then nodded.

"Follow me." Draco said. Harry and Ginny paused, irresolute. Draco turned back when he realized that both hadn't moved. "What's wrong, Potter? Surprised to see me here in America?"

"You might say that." Harry answered. "Why are you here?"

Draco had a strange look on his face, part humorous, part resolve. "I came here to help you. I learned everything from a friend of the family who is part of the Ministry. I also learned that my aunt was the one causing this disturbance. I arrived here a couple days ago. I learned of the attack on the school, and was heading there when I noticed several people attacking this house. I would have ignored it, but I noticed that it was a magical attack, so I watched. Somewhere inside an explosion happened, I saw a man apparate here, so I hid him here. He is here, inside this tent." Draco moved the large tree, which was disillusioned into a tent flap. Inside the tent….

Mark was confused. There was no body in the house. The fire department was adamant that no one was in there. It didn't help ease Krystal's distress. She was upset beyond reasoning. The fire was knocked down by the heroic efforts of the fire department, and Mark had to make sure no magic was being used. The fire chief who was there informed Mark that the fire was caused when the fireplace exploded, and he also said that he knew something caused the explosion to be spectacular. The fire chief informed Mark, the floo powder exploded, as was caused when a fireplace was booby-trapped to prevent anyone from unlawfully entering the safe house. The chief himself was a wizard, disguised as a muggle fire chief, and was certain at the cause. When asked side by side if anyone was in there, the chief confirmed that the building was vacant.

"So where is Troy?" Cerina asked.

"From the sound of it, he suspected someone had infiltrated the floo network, so he booby trapped the fireplace. Apparently someone tried to enter the safe house, and caused the floo to explode, setting off the trap." Mark looked concerned.

"So, Troy must have known something like that was going to happen, and set up a contingency plan." Regina concluded. She suddenly looked around, and Ron thought he saw her frown slightly.

"So Troy is safe? Along with the children?" Cerina asked. She was trying to calm Krystal down, hoping that would help by saying it aloud.

"I think so." Mark answered. "But where is he?"

"Good question." Tony answered. He was with the party for now, because he learned of the possible attack, and wanted to be sure that everyone is ok.

"Krystal," Mark asked softly. Krystal looked distressed, but wasn't crying. "Krystal…" She looked up at him, her heart in his eyes. "Would you know where Troy would set up another safe house?" Krystal looked hopeless, but she seemed to be calming down.

"We had several bolt holes in case something happened." She answered. She sounded almost hopeful, which to Mark was a good sign.

"Where would be the closest?" Mark asked. He looked up hopefully at the others, then frowned when he saw Regina's face. "something wrong?" He asked her. Regina looked as if she was counting, and then looked around frowning. "Regina?" Now everyone noticed that she was looking around. "Regina!" Mark said forcefully. Regina turned to him. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure." She said slowly, looking mainly at the British wizards and witches standing with them. For most of what was going on, they were silent. "But aren't there _Six _Marauders?"

Ron and Hermione looked around. Luna, Neville, and they were here. But…

"Where's Harry and Ginny?" Neville asked, looking around. A voice whispered in all their ears

_Over here._

Everyone looked at the wood line. They saw a horse capering in the woods, a patronus. "That's Ginny's partonus." Ron said. They followed the partonus into the woods. The patronus led them deep into the woods into a small clearing where a tent stood. Standing by the tent….

"Malfoy?" Ron said, in both shock and bitterness.

"Don't look so surprised, Weasley." He said with a bitter smile. "I have been here waiting for you."

"Who is this?" Mark asked, his wand pointed at the apparently wandless Malfoy. " He sounds Brit."

"Draco Malfoy." Hermione answered. She too, had her wand out and pointed at him. " a pure blood wizard, who believes pure bloods are the only true wizards."

"Well, that used to be true, Granger." He didn't say his usual mud blood insult, nor did he sound superior to Hermione. "But I figured to come help."

"Help us, or your aunt." Hermione asked, suspicious.

"Us, it seems," says a voice coming out of the tent. Popping out of the tent…

"Harry? Ginny?" Ron asked, startled. Harry nodded and beckoned them in the tent. When they entered they were stunned by the size of the inside. Usually wizard tents can be the size outside as pup tents, with a larger, roomier, sized inside. This tent, though, was much more. It was the size of a three person tent from the outside, but inside, it was the size of a large house, complete with four bedrooms, a kitchen, living room, two bathrooms, a den, even a meeting hall. But the biggest surprise was sitting in an easy chair by the first bedroom.

"Troy?" Krystal squealed. She ran into the arms of her husband, who hugged her fiercely. "Where are the girls?" She asked.

"With your mom." He answered. The look he had, though, was one of seriousness and concern.

"What is wrong?" Tony asked, as he sat down. Unlike most people here, Tony preferred to sit on edges of tables instead of chairs.

"Well, I learned a lot while you guys were in Waverly. Most of it from our guest here." Troy nodded to Malfoy. "We seem to assume that Bellatrix was trying to get a time-turner to go back further in time, to a point where she could prevent Voldemort's death. I will let Draco explain, because this isn't the case."

Draco explained to all of them what he remembered from when Bellatrix was free and living in his manor. Draco told them that he caught several private conversations between Bellatrix and his mother. Bellatrix had a purpose at the Battle of the Ministry; she was looking for a time-turner then. She learned that all were destroyed. She then tried to get Draco to get a time-turner via Snape, but Snape refused to sign one off.

"So what you're saying," Ron said, "Was that Bellatrix was after a time-turner during Voldemort's reign also?" Draco nodded.

"Could mean that she thought Voldemort was going to die, so she was preparing for that." Regina thought aloud. She saw Troy shaking his head. "You don't think so?"

"No, because at the time, Voldemort was at the height of his power." Troy answered. "She even believed that he was something of a God, immortal, so she worshipped him."

"Any idea why she would want a time-turner Draco?" This came from Neville.

"No clue. I just heard her conversations with my mum about it. I don't think she revealed to mum why she needed it."

"Would she had told anyone else?" Cerina asked.

Draco shook his head. "If she told anyone else, I would reckon it would be the Dark Lord himself. But she made mum swear not to tell anyone what she was after."

"Curious…" Tony said. "Most curious."

"What is curious about it?" Ginny asked.

"Well, Bellatrix was wanting a time-turner for a while; A long while, from what I have been getting. Yet she only told one person she was after one. She never indulged the information on why she wanted a time-turner. She stole some items that basically has to deal with time magic." Tony shook his head. "If you think of the logistics of time magic, what she is trying to accomplish is impossible."

"What do you mean?" said Hermione.

"Well, for one thing, you can not go back farther than you were born. That would cause a magical paradox. If you go back to, say, when your parents were born, you may accidently kill your mother or father, and therefore wipe out your existence. You can not go back like that. That is one of Gawps rules of Transcendentialism. However, you can travel back into the past via penseive, if you have the memories of someone who was there at the time. You can only observe, you can not intervene."

Harry suddenly remembered his experience with seeing the past, first from Riddle's diary, and second from Dumbledore's penseive. "So what your'e saying that It would be impossible for Bellatrix to send herself back in time to affect it. But she can send her conscious back." Tony nodded. "But what if she had enough power to send herself back, augmented by a rune?"

"No one had that power, even Augmented." Cerina answered. "Even Merlin could not affectively travel more than 5 years back himself. However, Merlin was able to see past events, though he could not affect the outcome."

Draco was listening quietly, he then turned to Troy, whom he guessed was the leader of this group. "Listen, I don't know if this would help, but Bella said something about the undying kings. I heard her say that phrase once, though I don't know what it meant. I looked it up in the restricted section many times in the library, but could not find anything on it."

Troy frowned at that. "Anyone ever heard of that phrase? Undying kings?" everyone shook their heads. Troy then turned to Draco. "If you find out anything, use this…." Troy handed him a piece of parchment. "write down what you learn. It will come to me." Draco nodded, then asked if there was anything else.

"Yes, there is." Troy looked a little bitter then, Harry thought. " I want you to tell your father that you met Troy Stardancer, and give him your impression of me. Be honest, please, just for me."

Draco looked confused with that. He did nod though. He stepped out of the tent and briskly walked away from the tent.

"Where is he going?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"He is going back to Britain. He has fulfilled what Dawlish told him to do." Troy answered.

"So he is helping us for now?" Ron asked.

"Yes, and he knows not to say anything about you guys being in America."

"Was that last request really necessary?" this came from Krystal. Her eyes were tightened, and her arms was crossed under her chest.

"Yes it was." Troy said pointedly. Everybody watched the exchange, but only Harry realized why.

Krystal threw up her hands in exasperation. "I thought you were over that! You never mentioned it for a long time."

"Yes, I was." Troy said. "But to be truthful, I think Lucius deserved what his own son will tell him. Draco will be honest, and he will tell Lucius in his own way that he was always wrong about me." Troy barked a dark laugh. "I think my revenge on him will be complete."

"Uhm," Regina was saying. "We missing something here?"

"Yes, and you never told us you knew Lucius Malfoy." Hermione added.

"I don't personally." Troy amended. "I do know of him. Please, let Harry explain it to you guys, so you all will understand. But one thing, it is about my past. In a way, I have to say I appreciate Lucius for his meddling; if he didn't I never would have been at Hogwarts long." Troy had a grim smile then. Krystal shook her head at her husband.

"You're bad." she commented with affection. Troy just smiled.


	6. Chapter 6: Revelations

**Harry's Revelation**

The recent incidents were weighing on the group. Little sleep and a lot of planning and research were the norm for the last couple days. Every morning the group would wake up at the crack of dawn, planning and doing research, lasting all day and almost half the night. The phrase "Undying Kings" stymied them. Recent excursions into the world saw more and more dark wizard attacks. Even Hermione, who had a knack for finding out things in libraries, had no clue to where to look for anything about Undying Kings. The dark books she took during their quest for horcruxes (She still had them) gave no clue to the mysterious phrase. Even the normally cheerful Regina was getting waspish and irritated at the long days and short sleep. However, it was an accidental incident with her that brought to light something in Harry.

Harry was getting a breath of fresh air out of the tent, more to have time for himself and away from the increasing arguments within. He was starting to wonder if he was wasting time in America, but the threat of Bellatrix was enough to answer in the affirmative. However, the last week has been unproductive and filled with strife.

Regina came out of the tent. Her presence to Harry at this time was unwanted. She had been vaporish the last couple days, almost questioning the reasoning of bringing the six Brits here. Although he kept his thoughts hidden, the look on his face must have told the minute witch not to bother him. She gave him a look then walked further away, She stood about eight feet away, not saying anything. Harry at first ignored her, but wondered what everyone was thinking about what is going on right now.

_Why can't we strike now? While we are wasting time here trying to figure out a possible false trail, the dark powers are growing! We have the power to finish this, but we're wasting time!_

Harry blinked, startled. Although she didn't say anything, Harry understood that the thought came from Regina. He looked over at her, confused. He wondered if he was reading her mind.

Suddenly, her thoughts came to him, unbidden. _I see Troy's reasoning about bringing the Brits here. He needs to unleash them now! Each one of them are unique in magical powers, I see that, and each of them can defeat every dark wizard we faced! Since This Bellatrix don't know they are here, we can surprise and defeat her now? Why wait? We have Harry Freaking Potter! He alone would scare the dark wizards!_

Harry could not hold a snort of laughter then. The sound got Regina's attention. She turned to him. Harry looked at her apprehensively. He realized she may be upset if she knew he read her thoughts. Regina frowned, then walked towards him. She stood in front, staring at him. Harry was again struck at how beautiful she was, despite the fact that she was only as tall as he was when he was about 10. Regina looked at him, eyes narrowed. Harry wondered what she was thinking when she suddenly pulled out her wand and said "_Stupify!"_

Harry had no time to pull out his wand or anything. He never reacted. The spell headed straight for him, only to bounce off and land harmlessly away, as if it hit his shield charm. Harry stared in shock. He looked at Regina, too confused to be angry at her for the attack. Remarkably, Regina was smiling; this confused him even more.

"Harry, stay here for a minute, I will be right back." She said as she headed back to the tent, she stopped and turned back to him. "By the way, thank you for thinking I am beautiful, though short." She giggled as she saw Harry blush.

Harry was thoroughly confused. How did he create a shield charm without even thinking about it? And without a wand? How could he read Regina's mind? What was going on?

Regina came back outside, this time accompanied by Krystal. Harry could not help but notice how much she looked like his mother in the face. He is also struck about how tall Krystal was; she was at least 3 inches taller than him, a total contrast to the four foot nine inch Regina. Krystal was wearing what appeared to be boxer shorts and a t shirt. Krystal looked curiously at Harry, and then back at Regina. Regina nodded, with a look of satisfaction.

Krystal walked to Harry, looking down at him. "Harry, I want you to relax." She took a deep breath, then stared hard into his eyes. The look did not trouble Harry, but it made him curious. For some reason, he felt himself not wanting to blink, but continually stare at eyes even greener than his. After about two minutes, He suddenly felt something stirring into him. He still stared in Krystal's eyes, but he felt something else. He felt spells coming to him. All the spells he knew came unbidden. He was feeling as if he could unleash them anytime, without thought, even without a wand. When Krystal looked away from him and stood back, he still felt the magic. Krystal then bent down, picked up a rock, and tossed it nonchalantly to Harry. Harry suddenly thought _"Windguardiam Leviso" _and the rock levitated right in front of him, without really concentrating. Harry was stunned. He looked at Krystal, then thought _"Levicorpus."_

Krystal yelped as she was lifted up by her ankle. She then muttered the counter curse and landed on her feet. Krystal looked at Harry, who was beyond stunned now. She smirked. "Nice one, didn't know you knew that spell."

Harry had about a million questions to ask, but only was able to utter one word. "How….?"

Regina then asked, "Harry, have you ever seen anyone do wandless magic? Other than Apparition?"

Harry thought for a few seconds. He shook his head.

"Surprising…" Krystal said. "I would have at least thought Dumbledore would have done it. I know Voldemort would have."

"Now Harry, have you ever did any magic? After you started school, unbidden? Without a wand? And under a great deal of emotion?" Regina asked. Harry at first shook his head, then remembered.

" When I was thirteen, I blew up my Aunt Marge." Regina looked horrified, then Harry explained quickly, "No, not like that. I made her like a balloon." Regina breathed a sigh of relief.

_But what does this all mean? _Harry was wondering_._

_It means you are a sorcerer_. Answered Krystal in his mind. Harry blinked, turning to her. "Yes." She said. "You can perform magic by thinking about it. You can do it without a wand, and you don't have to worry about doing it unbidden by emotion now. I think you were limited when you were connected with Voldemort, but I strongly suspected you were one; you seemed to be unusually magical. Just because you can do magic without using a wand doesn't mean you shouldn't throw your wand away, though. Your wand can still channel your magic, and can augment it. You still need a wand, despite being a sorcerer."

"Are you one?" He asked. She nodded. He looked at Regina, who shook her head. "Then how did you know I was one?" He asked her.

"Well, that is a little more complex." Regina answered. "I felt you probing my thoughts, and I noticed you didn't have your wand in your hand when I was about to confront you about it. I realized then that you were using legillimancy without realizing it. You probably can do occlumency too. In fact, you probably can do all spells you learn without a wand."

"Really?" Harry wondered aloud.

"Sure, do your patronus."

Harry looked at her, and just thought about a patronus, not even wording it, and suddenly from his hand shot out silver, landed in front of him, and turned into his stag. Harry gaped at it. The patronus stood there, staring benignly at him. He then smiled as the patronus ran from him into the tent. There were gasps and exclamations. Krystal and Regina watched everyone in the tent come out to them.

"What was that for?" Ron asked. "Why did you summon your patronus? And how did you get it to dance on the table?"

Krystal gave Harry a _Show off _look, then smiled. "Harry just had a revelation."

"Meaning?" Ron asked.

Troy looked from Krystal to Harry, and then nodded. "So you're theory was correct?"

"Yes." she said, then she grinned evilly. "which means I won the bet."

For the first time since he met him, Harry actually saw Troy turn pale.

"What's the theory?" Hermione asked.

"That in addition to being a powerful wizard, Harry is also a sorcerer." Regina answered. Everyone looked at Harry.

"What's a sorcerer?" Tony asked.

"Tony, like Harry, was muggled raised, but his grandparents were more acceptable to the magic world." Cerina explained, smiling at her fiance. "I'll explain it to him."

Harry looked at his friends. Ginny was looking at him admirably. Ron and Hermione was looking at him in amazement. Apparently, Luna knew, for she had a knowing look on her face. Neville, looked confused, but he too, looked admirably. A new revelation for him, but what should he do about it?

Troy answered him, without knowing what he was thinking "That changes the plans slightly. Now we have two sorcerers, we should be able to take advantage against Bellatrix."

"So who is the other sorcerer?" Ron asked. Krystal smiled.

**Ginny's Revelation**

Everyone was going to bed early tonight. The planning did not last as long, and the fuzziness of being in planning all day was starting to get to people. Even Hermione was getting a little fuzzy headed. Ginny was looking a little constrained, and she went outside, to enjoy the night air, though it was stifling in the middle of summer.

When she stepped outside, she saw Troy sitting under a tree. Wondering if she should join him, she walked toward him. He seemed to be very quiet at this time. When Ginny came within five feet of him, he told her to sit down beside her without turning around.

She sat beside him. Looking at Troy, she wondered how powerful he was. She hadn't really seen much magic from him; the closest she saw was his control of the wizard transport ship. That required a great deal of magic. Ginny suspected that Troy was very powerful, but haven't seen much from him. She looked at him. Ginny has met him a couple times, once when he visited Bill, and at the Quidditch World Cup. She knew he was a superb Quidditch player, a chaser whose school record for scoring in one game has never been matched. Ginny knew Troy better than every other Brit. She could talk to him all about Quidditch. She also could talk to him about other things. She don't know why, but Ginny felt she could talk to him about anything.

"You know, this will probably boil down to killing Bellatrix." Troy spoke. "She is deranged, so much that she would do anything. I just hope we can stop her."

"Suppose we get my mum." Ginny stated. "It was her who killed Bellatrix."

Troy looked at her in amusement. "Perhaps. I never met her, but I know of her from Bill. She would not be one to trifle with when a friend or family member is in trouble."

"So Harry is a sorcerer." she commented, changing the subject. She looked at Troy, who was looking straight ahead, but was listening. "Would that mean his children would also be sorcerers?"

"I don't know." Troy answered slowly. "Sorcerers are born, and not always to wizards. Many sorcerers are muggle born." Troy smiled. "However, I would not be surprised if one of his children would be a sorcerer." Troy looked at Ginny with one raised eyebrow. "Would that bother you?"

She blinked. "why would it bother me?" Then she understood by his look. "You think Harry and I would have children?" She giggled. And Troy smiled.

Ginny never really thought about the future like that. She knew she loved Harry, and Harry loved her. She hadn't really thought of them being married and having children. Both have been busy; she with Quidditch, and he with being an Auror.

Something moved in the woods in front of them. Ginny looked at a large bush moving. She looked at Troy, who was also looking at the bush. Ginny thought she saw a rabbit at first. She then saw it as the creature appeared out of the bush. She gasped in horror.

Troy saw it too. He looked pensive. "Ginny" He whispered warningly. "Don't move."

"_What is that?"_

"It is a wolfentinger. It is a magical creature that was created by dark magic. It is also very dangerous if you don't know how to deal with it." Troy helped her up very slowly. He then told her to draw her wand. "Prepare shield charms, for it can absorb and resist spells. Now, lets move slowly away from it." He started backing up, and she did too. The wolfentinger was sniffing the ground, looking around. A forked tongue flicked out. Then it turned it's head towards Ginny and Troy. Ginny gasped. She could see the two snake like eyes boring in on her. She was about to run when the beast charged with impossible speed. Troy yelled and threw up a shield. The beast suddenly jumped and flew at them. Both ducked and Ginny, without thinking, aimed her wand at the beast and yelled "_Immobilius_!"

The beast froze in mid air, stopped by the spell. Ginny then called out the reductor spell, and the beast imploded. Ginny looked at the remains of the wolfentinger, where only small tufts of fur remained.

"That wasn't as bad as I thought." Ginny said, turning to Troy. She was considerably startled at the way Troy was staring at her. He was visibly shocked. She asked him what was wrong.

"You just successfully used magic on a creature who absorbs and resists magic. That creature has killed many wizards and witches because it cannot be harmed by spells. You just did the impossible."

Ginny looked confused. "That thing can absorb magic?"

"Yes." Troy looked stunned. "I killed one with a sword a while back. I mounted it because I could prove they could be killed." He then looked at the wolfentinger remains. "Watch this." He pulled out his wand and said _"confringo." _The spell bounced off the remains and hit a tree, instantly setting it ablaze. Without saying anything, Troy pointed his wand at the tree, which a jet of water shot out and put out the fire. "Now you try it." Ginny tried the spell. The fur exploded and burned. Troy used the water charm, but could not put out the fire. Ginny used the water charm and put the fire out. Troy shook his head.

"I think I found out something." Troy said. He looked at Ginny. "You have something I never expected."

"What's that?"

"It's called alcracity. What that means is not only does your spells become more powerful, it also ignores magical resistance." He looked at her speculatively. "You could probably pierce shield spells, depending on the power of them." He suddenly looked excited. "This could be an advantage we need."

**Ron's Revelation**

Cerina was fixing dinner when Ron walked into the tent's kitchen. She looked up at him and then returned to chopping the celery. Ron did not acknowledge her but sat down. He didn't say anything, but sat and watched her cutting the vegetables. After she finished, she placed the vegetables in a pot, then, using her wand, she brought the pot onto the stove and turned it on. She then raised her wand and set a couple of knives to slicing the large beef side that huge suspended in midair. She then turned to Ron.

"So what's up?" She asked. Ron looked at her.

"Nothing" he said. He saw her frown. "Nothing." he repeated.

Cerina sat down and looked at him. This was the first time Ron ever observed her. She had light brown eyes, almost tan. Her hair was brown with blonde highlights, which she wore with bangs and a high ponytail. She was pretty, and looked younger than her thirty three years of age.

Cerina then got up and went back to cutting the beef. Once she had cut sufficiently enough, she placed the cutlets on a tray, which went into the oven. She then turned back to Ron.

"So,." Ron said. "Tell me, what do you see when you look at me like that?"

Cerina's mouth tightened. "Do I bother you when I do that?"

"I don't know" He answered. He looked at her. "It just looked like you were scrutinizing me. I felt self conscious. Like I should have shaved closer or something."

She smiled. "No Ron, I shouldn't make you feel self conscious, I am sorry I stared at you." She then sat down, then looked pointedly at him. "But I can see something is bothering you."

Ron looked confused. "what do you mean? I feel ok."

"I have something to tell you Ron. I can usually tell something about a person when I look at them. I can tell your heart is good, and you have a fixation with Hermione. She to you is more than your girlfriend; she is your soul mate." Ron blushed slightly at this. "Your love for her is strong, much stronger than even you know. However, along with that comes a feeling of inadequacy, a feeling that you aren't worthy of her."

"I can be worthy of her." Ron said defensively, mainly because she was right on point with his insecurity about Hermione.

"The problem with that, Ron, is that you shouldn't feel that way. Hermione has always been in love with you; it was just hard for either of you to express it. Your feelings of inadequacy is so unfounded." She looked a little concerned then. "I hope that helps you improve yourself with her."

Ron looked at her, studying her probing eyes. Suddenly he said "So do you still feel sorrow that you lost Troy? Do you still feel it is your fault you two aren't together?"

That statement rocked Cerina to her roots. She gaped at Ron, who looked horrified.

"I, I am sorry." He stammered. "I, I don't know why that came out. Or how I knew it."

She stared at Ron in shock, then she looked pensive. "No Ron, you couldn't have known that. That was an emotion that bothered me for a long time. But….I got over that years ago. Troy and I talked about it, and we decided what happened was best for us both." She looked at Ron, suddenly comprehending. "Ron, you have empathy."

Ron stared at her, not knowing if she insulted him or gave him a revelation.

She went on. "Ron you are an empath, because I am one too. You can detect the surface emotions of someone and see whatever conflicts them. However, you can detect the surface emotions of something that bothered people years ago. You know something, contact may allow you to see the emotions too. Here, take my hand." she held out her hand. Ron tentatively held it. "Now tell me what you see."

He then could see Cerina's surface emotions. "You are worried about the war, hoping it would end soon. You are happy to finally be able to marry Tony. You are hoping that your marriage would be as strong as Troy and Krystal's. You also plan to…."

He stopped, blushing…Cerina suddenly let him go, her face burning. Ron could not help it, he had to smile at her last thought. "Sorry, but I didn't want to go that far."

"As long as you keep it to yourself, it would be ok." she said dryly.

"But I don't understand." Ron said, confused. "How is empathy different than legillimancy?" "A fair question." She answered. "Empathy can not be detected. Legillimancy can be, therefore, can be blocked by occulmancy. With legillimancy you are using regular magic. With empathy you are using thought magic, which cannot be detected, and therefore, cannot be blocked. Legillimancy and Empathy are both in a way the same, but empathy can go further, as you just did with me." Ceina looked up as Wade came in. He sat down after taking a celery stem and started eating. Ron looked apprehensively at Cerina, who looked about to berate Wade for his rudeness on taking a piece of dinner. Just so he can test himself, Ron touched Wade's hand. Wade looked at him, puzzled, and looked even more confused when Ron's eyes widened. Ron looked at Cerina, who was looking at him with amusement.

"Should we tell Regina what Wade would love to do to her if he had the chance?" Ron asked her.

"Huh?" Wade asked, confused, though his eyes began looking a bit wild then.

Ron made a _tsk tsk _sound and started rubbing his two index fingers together in the classic naughty symbol.

"I think we should if he steals another celery stick." Cerina said, looking stern at him.

"Hey, I happen to think nicely about her." He said defensively.

Ron shook his head. "I don't know, if she does wear her nightshirt and bend over in front of you, she may be in for a mild shock." He then looked at Wade, who turned ghost white. "Maybe we better warn her not to bend over in front of you."

"…..Wow, I never seen someone get up from the kitchen table and bolt like that before." Cerina said conversationally.

"That had to be a record." Ron said evenly. They both looked at each other, then broke down in helpless laughter.

**Hermione's revelation**

Morning came early for everyone in the tent. Most of the people were awake. Among them was Mark. He was up almost an hour before anyone else, and he began cooking breakfast when Hermione came in. She looked sleepy, wearing a robe and her hair tousled. Mark looked up at her and smiled.

"I would say good morning, but I don't think you want to see what you look like right now."

"Me either." she commented. She sat down while Mark set a plate of eggs, sausage, bacon, and orange juice for her. She muttered thanks and began eating. Mark sat opposite of her, his plate in front of him. As he was chewing on his toast, his eyes became distant.

When Hermione saw that, she asked him what he was thinking. Mark looked at her and said slowly. "I don't know. The statement about undying kings bothers me. I halfway want to say it is a false lead, but something keeps nagging me about it."

"Well, undying means undead, right?" Hermione asked. "I read about several undead in the magical world, but nothing comes to mind about undying kings."

"Undying could also mean immortal." Mark answered. "Truthfully, immortality is more based on rather or not if you can die. You can be undying if you are immortal, but even undead can actually die."

"Maybe we are looking at this wrong." Hermione suggested. "Maybe we need to follow your example of undying. Maybe there is another way besides horcruxes that make you immortal."

Mark wondered about that. He shook his head. "Somehow, I know Bellatrix doesn't want to make another horcrux. I think she is wanting to keep the rest of her soul intact. Maybe setting herself up to be an undying king."

Hermione's eyes suddenly widened. "I think I got it! Do you know where the closest muggle library is?"

Mark looked confused. "Muggle library?"

Hermione then looked at Mark in excitement. "I have to check on something there. I think I know where Bellatrix got the phrase Undying Kings. And she may have got it from muggle lore!."

Mark looked at her. Bellatrix studying something from muggles? That sounded insane. But then, Bellatrix wasn't exactly subtle herself.

Hermione must have thought along the same lines, because she said. "I know it doesn't sound like Bellatrix, but what if she saw something the muggles was doing, and got the idea from them? If my theory is correct, she did get the title of Undying Kings from a muggle creation."

Mark was confused but intrigued. "I tell you what, after breakfast, I will apparate you to the largest muggle library in the area. Since we are near Boston, I will bring you to the largest branch of the Boston Public Library myself."

Breakfast was served and eaten by everyone about an hour and a half later. Mark said something to Troy, then he went outside with Hermione. With Hermione grabbing his arm, he apparated into a deserted study room in the Boston's main public library. Mark watched as Hermione walked confidently out of the study room, and seem to be guided to the right section of books she was looking for. This caused Mark to understand something about Hermione Granger. He wondered if she knew.

Hermione took down a book, which made Mark blanch. The title was enough to make him put his hand over it to prevent Hermione from opening it. He looked at her in horror when she looked questioningly at him. "What are you doing with this book?" he stared at the title…_The Book of Vile Darkness._

She looked confused, then she realized what he was thinking. She looked at him reassuringly, "Mark, you got this all wrong. This book isn't what you think. This is a…compendium you may say, an addition to a game." Seeing Mark's confused look, she explained. "This is a part of a muggle game. The game is called _Dungeons and Dragons_. It is a role playing game about fantasy worlds and fighting medieval style. It is a popular game played with dice and other things."

Mark nodded. _Interesting ideas, these muggles have_, he thought. Maybe he should get his wife and children involved with a muggle game like that, to understand how they entertain themselves.

Hermione was skimming through pages when she then said triumphantly "Here we go, a reference to Undying Kings." She began reading the passage…

"_Undying Kings are powerful immortal wizards who at some point in time were able to exist even after death. The powers they possessed are now what we consider a lich. They may live and be aware even after their bodies become skeletal. Being a lich, they are now considered very evil and dangerous. They can resist almost all spells, and even when you kill the body of an Undying King, if will reform the next day. The only way to destroy a Lich is to find and destroy it's phylactery."_

After reading the passage, Hermione looked up at Mark. "What's a Phylactery?"

Her eyes narrowed when she saw Mark's face; he was pale as a ghost. "What is wrong?"

Mark answered in a low voice. "Bellatrix is trying to become a lich…an Undying Queen. Now I understand why she needed the time turner and the various runes…" He looked at Hermione, and he could not mask his horror. "I don't know if she can be one, but I have heard about liches. They are the foulest form of undead, and anything evil will be in it's powers. She is planning on being an immortal Witch Queen, similar to how Voldemort tried to be immortal, but she is going about it differently."

Mark then looked at Hermione intently. "I think Bellatrix is making a phylactery. In a way, a phylactery works like a Horcrux. A phylactery is different than a horcrux because it doesn't contain the soul, it holds the soul when one dies, and it's power is such that even if you kill Bellatrix, the phylactery will remake her body, over and over again. In a way, a phylactery can make you immortal. Destroy the phylactery, you destroy the undying King. A phylactery is always considered an amulet or a charm on a necklace."

"But why didn't Voldemort try to make a phylactery?" Hermione asked.

"Because it is more made into Muggle superstition and legends than a wizard one. I don't even think Voldemort pursued anything about the phylactery, thinking it is a muggle idea, and you know how he thought muggles were beneath him." Mark then looked at Hermione speculatively. "How did you know that this particular book had Undying King reference?"

"I don't know. I just looked at the titles of the books here and thought this would be the one that could tell us what we needed to know."

"Has this happened before?"

Hermione frowned, then said.." A couple times. Once when I was wondering what the monster was in the Chamber of Secrets, and learned about the Basilisk. Another time when I was researching horcruxes."

"I want to try something…" Mark said. I want you to go around and see if you can find a book on Phylacteries.."

Hermione frowned at that. How is she supposed to look for something in a vast library with only one word to go on? Then she thought she may look it up in the card catalog. She was heading there when Mark stopped her and shook his head. Hermione looked at him uncertainly. He was expecting her to find it without help. She frowned at that, then walked slowly down one aisle. She shook her head, walked back out of it, then walked briskly past three other aisles until she reached a reference section. Without stopping she walked to a small shelf of reference material and looked at it. Mark was watching closely as she grabbed a book from that shelf and sat it on a table nearby. She then opened the book and went through several pages until…

"Here it is." Hermione said with satisfaction. She then looked at Mark in shock. "How did I do that?"

"Because Hermione, you have a gift." Mark said. "It is a very rare gift, and I think Dumbledore saw it. You have the mental ability to research problems with only a word or phrase to guide you. It is a gift that shows up best in libraries or studies, because with this gift, you can find what you are looking for." Mark smiled. "Now that we have the Undying King's meaning, lets work on a phylactery, and how to stop Bellatrix. By the time we get back, we should be able to work out a lot on our plans to defeat the Dark wizards."

**Neville's Revelation**

Krystal was sitting in an easy chair in the main room of the tent. She was thinking of her children and what to do when all this was over when Neville came into the tent. She smiled in acknowledgement of his wave, and watched as he looked at a couple of plants sitting on a shelf beside the door. Since it is mid summer, the weather had become fairly sweltering in the tent. Neville was wearing a very light shirt and shorts set. Krystal was wearing a spaghetti strapped red shirt and blue jean shorts. Though it was still morning, the weather was fairly hot. Neville, looking at the plants, noticed an odd looking one. The plant leaves looked like a heart, with small bristles on it. The edges of the heart shaped leaves were surrounded with longer bristles. The plant was intriguing; he never saw one of these plants. As he watched, a spider, a rather small one, crawled onto the plant. Neville was about to bat it off, but something told him not to. He watched as the spider crawled onto the heart colored leaf. Neville was then startled when suddenly the leaf closed around the spider, the bristles staggered on each side, forming a trap. The trapped spider struggled, but the trap was absolute, it could not get out.

"Wow, what is this plant?" Neville asked.

"It is called a Venus Fly-Trap," Krystal answered, standing up and walking towards him. "They are a rare form of carnivorous plant. As you can see, it traps it's prey in a form of cage. The plant then squeezes it's prey, also releasing digestive enzimes to consume the prey. After 10 days, it reopens, and all that is left of the victim is a shell. I see it finally caught that irritating spider."

"Wicked." Neville said in awe. "But I never heard of a magical plant such as this."

"The reason behind that is simple. This isn't a magical plant. It isn't related to similar plants, such as Tentaculas, though is works similar to them, except it only takes small prey, such as ants, spiders, and insects. In fact, a Venus Fly-Trap is a misnomer; It usually kills more ants than flies." Krystal looked at Neville. "I thought you may have heard of these."

"No, my dealings are with magical plants and plants that have magical uses. I guess the Venus-flytrap you said? -has no magical use."

"Are you sure?" Krystal asked, looking at him intently.

Neville frowned at her. Krystal looked expectantly at him. Irresolute, Neville stared at the plant. He saw the Venus flytrap began squeezing the trapped spider. A small bit of liquid came out of the closed petals. Without thinking, Neville took out a small glass tube from his pocket, and caught the dripped liquid. He then placed the glass tube in a container. Suddenly Neville had an inspiration. He walked over to his pack. Pulling out something, he sat it on the table by the Venus Flytrap. The item looked as if a small stick was poking out of a stone. For a second, Krystal stared at it.

"That is Earthroot, isn't it?" She asked Neville.

"Yes, a magical plant I accidentally created. Somehow I made the vine of a plant grow roots into a stone. Only the roots grow, but it seems to absorb nutrients from inside the stone. In about three more days, you will see parts of the roots sticking out of the stone, and therefore, can be cut and used for strengthening certain potions. I have several now growing back home. After about a month, the roots will fully consume the rock and anchor itself onto the earth. They seem to release spores. That is how they reproduce, but they must land on a rock or something to grow and mature."

"Anything dangerous about that?"

"Yea, you certainty don't want them to land on any stone or rock based house. I know that these plants do eat most kinds of stone; granite, lime, concrete. Curiously it will not touch marble. I don't understand why." "Yet." Krystal said. Neville gave her a curious glance. "What are you planning to do with that?" She nodded at the Earthroot.

"I am going to try something." Neville took the container and pulled out the tube that contained the drop of liquid from the flytrap. Cautiously, he dripped the liquid on the stem of the vine.

The result was unexpected and spectacular. The vine suddenly shivered and released a strange purple cloud that soon began enveloping both the plants and the shelf. Neville backed away in alarm, and Krystal drew her wand and pointed at the cloud. The small cloud, however, stayed with both plants….then….

"What the Hell?" Krystal said, her eyes widening. Neville too, looked stunned.

The cloud was dissipated in seconds. However, the two plants….

"Did they just...merge?" Krystal asked.

Indeed, both plants looked as if they merged. The Venus Flytrap was also larger; the plant was actually a yard wide at its flowery trap. The plant actually looked as if its roots had taken hold inside the stone.

"Neville…." Krystal said uncertainly.

"I think I just made the Venus Flytrap able to also absorb nutrients from stone also. I think I created another species." Neville then thought aloud. "I think we can use the plant now to rid of magical pests such as doxies."

"Neville…" Krystal repeated.

"Perhaps we can use them in Herbology also. They can be very good in studying and experimenting in getting other magical plants to merge and therefore benefit us double." Neville continued in his train of thought, as if he didn't hear Krystal. "I think we can use them to actually create multiple types of magical plants that will…"

"Neville…" Krystal said more forcefully…

Neville continued doggedly "Wow, the implications are endless. I can do a lot with this… I wonder what this enzyme will do with my Mimbulus Mimbletonia? Maybe it will make him grow…"

"_Neville!" _Krystal screeched in exasperation. It was then that Neville looked at her, a little confused. "Neville, do you realized what you have done?"

Neville looked at her, baffled. He wondered what she was getting at.

Krystal seen the look of confusion and shook her head. "I think you should stop and think…you just made a plant that you said had no magical properties and made it into one that does. You just merged a Venus Flytrap and Earthroot and made a plant that grew and will absorb nutrients in rocks. This cross breed probably won't reproduce, because it has two different forms of reproduction….the earth root produces spores, and the Venus Flytrap produces seeds. However, this plant can do two things now…it can still catch flies and other creatures…probably up to a mouse. But it also can absorb nutrients form stones and rocks. Tell me, did you know this would happen?"

Neville screwed up his face thinking. He then said, "I didn't know that the merging would happen. But I knew _something_ would happen…"

"And how did you know this?"

Neville thought for a second before replying, "I just felt something would happen… an inspiration, Does that help?"

She crossed her arms across her breast then said quietly…"Neville, I think you are a natural Herbotanist. In addition to being able to cross breed plants, I believe you can also control them in a way to make them do other things." Seeing Neville's confused face, Krystal pressed on with a suggestion. "Tell the Fly trap to do something."

Neville looked at her uncertainly, then looked at the plant. Neville had another inspiration. Without saying anything, Neville asked the plant to open and close it's petals. The flytrap opened and closed it's petals on command. Neville then made another command, and the plant started a series of waving and bending, as if it was dancing.

Neville turned to Krystal, who was looking grimly satisfied. Neville now knew he can do many things with plants, and wondered what his limits were.

**Luna's Revelation**

It was nearly noon when Troy walked back out the tent. Mark and Hermione was at the library, and The others were performing various tasks in preparation for the raid into the Lewis Estate. Troy basically was the only person left with nothing to do. As he walked around the side, he heard a strange noise. The noise sounded like a hyena laugh mixed with the light screech similar to a barn owl. Troy knew what creature made that sound…a wolfentinger.

As if on cue, a solid black one appeared beside a large tree. It seemed to be aware of Troy, and stood there looking at him. Troy had his wand out, nervously watching the creature staring at him. Curiously, the wolfentinger did not approach Troy. That was unusual; past experience with these creatures resulted in aggressive attacks by the beasts. The wolfentinger then turned and walked away from Troy, who looked even more confused. Against his better judgment, Troy decided to follow the beast.

When he reached the area where he first saw the wolfentinger, Troy heard about three more different calls; the strange calls sounded similar to a hyena's cackle and an owl's screech. Troy grew apprehensive; there were at least four wolfentingers nearby. Battling one would be a task, Troy knew, but four would be suicidal. He was about to turn when he heard something even stranger, a person singing. Troy stopped, confused. The singing came from the same area the wolfentinger calls were. Was someone singing to them, or calling them? Intrigued, Troy followed the singing. When he reached a clearing, nearby a flowing creek, he stopped, staring at the sight before him.

Luna Lovegood was sitting on a pink blanket in the middle of the clearing. She was wearing a dark blue shirt, a short pink skirt, white leggings, black leg warmers, and red high topped tennis shoes. Luna's dress code was strange, but what she was doing was stranger. She sat cross-legged on the blanket, with her eyes closed, and she was singing a strange song…one with no words, but a humming type sound. Troy found it quite nice sounding. But what was surrounding her gave him pause. Surrounding her, obviously entranced by her singing, were at least ten wolfentingers. None of these small, vicious magical creatures were acting at all aggressive. Troy stared in shock; no one had ever tamed or even quieted a wolfentinger as far as he knew (and he knew from history that the dark wizard who created these abominations was killed by them). Luna was doing something that he never thought possible; she was pacifying the wild and aggressive beasts. The wolfentingers were all sitting perfectly still, watching her.

"Hello Troy Stardancer." Luna said without opening her eyes. " Are these magical beasts considered Chupacabras?"

"Ahh," Troy stammered, still flummoxed at what Luna was accomplishing here. "no, that is a totally different magical beast." he was staring apprehensive at the rabbit -like creatures, which stared at him. Their stares unnerved him.

"Why are your wizards afraid of these beasts?" she asked. "And why are they called wolfentingers?"

"These beasts are very aggressive." Troy replied. "They attack wizards and squibs, and muggles if they see them. Muggles only see them if they are extremely drunk, though. They have something about their creation that absorbs magical spells, though Ginny can affect them. The second question, I can not answer. The name stuck for centuries when they were created." Troy looked at Luna. "How are you controlling them?"

" I'm not." She answered, finally opening her eyes and smiling as the wolfentingers gathered close to her. She patted the black one on the head affectionately. "I came by and saw one of them. As I approached, it hissed and flew towards me, but then it landed and stood on its paws, looking at me like it was a puppy." Troy frowned at that.

A sudden movement in front of them made Luna and Troy (and the wolfentingers) turn to it. Suddenly the wolfentingers scattered as fast as rabbits, hopping away from the rustling bushes. This caused Luna to stand, apprehensive. Troy also stared, wand ready in his left hand. Then suddenly something appeared.

Luna had never seen anything like this before. It was…a snake? She thought. She had never, however, seen a snake with such beautiful glowing golden scales. The snake had the head of a viper, but the coloring of the snake made the evil looking head less threatening. But the thing that got her was the fact that this snake had feathery, angelic _wings_. The wingspan was twice as long as it's body, and it was at least nine feet long. The wings were also golden.

Luna drew her wand, looking scared, but she was considerably startled when Troy lowered his wand and approached the beast. Troy looked over at Luna. "You know what this is?" He said, smiling. Luna shook her head. "This is a magical beast you should never fear unless you are a dark witch or wizard." Troy turned back and raised his hand. The snake flew to Troy's hand and rubbed against it as if a cat would. "Gem's wand has a single scale off one of these as it's core. They are called Couatls." Troy grinned. "They are protectors of areas of evil, and are very friendly if you know how to handle them. As you saw, wolfentingers fear them, as Couatls prey upon them."

Luna looked at the majestic beast. Now that Troy explained, the creature did not look threatening at all, but beautiful. She felt a calming radiance from it, and she wanted to know more about them.

"They are quite rare; hunted to near extinction until one of my ancestors proved that Couatls are beneficial. However, they can tell when they are in danger by wizards, and they are able to use various spells and skills to protect themselves and areas they control." Troy looked whimsical. "I know Hagrid would want one for a pet, but he has to understand that these beasts do not become pets, but allies. I wonder if he ever got a dragon."

"You knew Hagrid?" Luna asked, startled.

" Pretty well, actually." Troy abruptly changed the subject. "See if the Couatl will come to you."

Luna felt a slight bit of reservation, but she walked close to it as Troy backed away. The Couatl tilted it's head and looked at her curiously. Luna returned the stare. The Couatl flicked its tongue. The Couatl then floated/glided to her and wrapped itself around her arm. The creature's touch had made her fell wonderful, as if she downed a potion that induced euphoria. Not only that, but Luna felt the history of the Couatl. Unbidden, Luna then said, "A Couatl originated in South America. Back in the early ages, Aztecs and Mayans worshipped them as Gods. When the Spaniards conquered the tribes, the Couatls were hunted due to their bad reputations as snakes. Couatls are ambiguous in the Americas, along with the Thunderbird, the Wendigo, the Wolfentinger, the Chupacabras, the Sasquatch, and Mothman. Your wand's core is from the Thunderbird feather." Luna blinked, startled, and turned to Troy. He was looking at her with a look of triumph.

Luna looked at Troy, wondering how she knew about magical creatures she never heard of, from a land she never visited until now. Troy looked at her with satisfaction and then answered her when she asked.

"Luna, you are a Magizoologist. You will probably be more famous than Newt Scamander, if you continue your naturalist studies. You already know the names of many of our magical beasts. You can add and update _Fantastic beasts and Where to Find Them_. From what I seen, you probably can even tell everyone about the beasts habitat more, because they seem to understand that you won't harm them. The wolfentingers did not attack you, like they would me, and whoever is with you will be safe too."

"So how does that help here?" Luna asked, startling Troy. Luna's insight was very good.

"Well for one thing, the area we are going to with the raid is full of magical creatures. Not just wolfentingers, but chupacubras are there, and quite possibly a wendigo. Chupacabras are known to attack also, and a Wendigo is always considered an omen of death. In addition, Luna, you are an exceptional witch, and your skills against Death Eaters with be a major plus here; the dark wizards in America can't compare to them."

**Final Revelations**

"Well," Wade was saying. "I think our chances of success are far greater than ever. In fact, I don't think we can fail."

"Famous last words of the overconfident wizard." Mark countered. "There can always be something unexpected. And that could be disastrous."

They were meeting in the large front room in the tent. The day was slowing darkening to night. The revelations of the New Marauders, revelations they now know and understand, has been a boost for the confidence of the wizards here. The six Marauders were Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, and Luna. With them was Troy, Krystal, Cerina, Regina, Mark, Wade, and Tony. These thirteen people were preparing for a raid, a raid that will spell the end of the sorcerous civil war here.

"Well, we all have uniqueness," Hermione was saying, spreading her arms in front of her five friends, "you showed us all what we are capable of. How about you guys? You all have special abilities too?" She reflected. "I know that Krystal is a sorceress, Cerina is an empath and an animangus; what about the rest? You helped us find out our hidden abilities."

"Not hidden." Troy commented. "Latent. You were unaware of it, and because we studied your abilities during the war, with help from your ministry, we were able to understand that you all did have them." He smiled. "Not all wizards and witches have latent abilities, but we found out yours from the uniqueness of your situations."

"But still." Hermione stated. "We know you all have something unique about you."

"True." Tony said. "For instance. I am muggle born, like you. I know a lot about the muggle lifestyle. I am also an auror, and I teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I am considered a Chevalier, which means I am unusually resistant to Dark Art spells. I don't know if I can survive the Killing Curse, but I can resist many dark curses."

"I am a dueling champion." Wade said. "I don't know if you heard, but I was once the number one duelist."

"I _thought_ you look familiar." Ron was saying. You beat Professor Flitwick at the dueling championship four years ago. He then beat you the next year." Ron looked at Harry and Hermione. "I saw that dueling competition then, he was listed as the champion then."

Regina then said, "I am a potioneer, in addition to being an auror. In fact, I am one of the best-not bragging or anything." She amended. "I can brew almost every potion known by heart, and even able to enhance them some and make some quicker." she then gave Troy a rueful smile. "I may be as good as Troy's mysterious Potion helper."

Troy looked defensive. "Hey, I am ok in potions, it was just that when I was in my NEWT potions class I had to borrow one of Slughorn's used potion textbooks because someone sabotaged mine. I must say, that person who did the adjustments on the potions was a genius. He really helped me knock out some of those assignments Slughorn gave us. Hell, he even had some of those spells I showed you written in his book. I never knew who it was, but the person knew his potions-why are you staring at me like that?" Troy asked, confused. He saw Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny staring at him in total shock.

"Was that book the property of the Half-Blood Prince?" Harry asked incredulously.

Troy's mouth dropped, and his eyes widened. "Yes… You seen the book?"

"_Seen_ it?" Harry laughed bitterly. "I had it in my sixth year. Caused me a bit of trouble."

Troy frowned then. "Let me guess, you actually used one of those spells-probably the Slashing curse- on someone."

"Slashing curse?"

"Can't remember the name. Started with an S."

"_Sectumsempra_." Harry confirmed. Troy nodded. "I used it on Malfoy. The man whose book you were talking about gave me detention for the rest of the school year."

For the second time, Harry saw what he said stun Troy. "You _knew_ the Half Blood Prince?" he said, suddenly leaning forward from his chair. "Who was it?"

"Snape." Harry answered. Troy closed his eyes and nodded, as though it would be more expected because he was sure Severus Snape was a potion expert. "He called himself that to improve his pure blood credentials. I didn't learn it was him until after he killed Dumbledore." Harry felt weird then. This was another connection between him and Troy. The coincidences kept piling up.

Mark then spoke. "for my uniqueness, I have two. Here is my first." Mark suddenly sprouted hair, long brownish-black hair. His eyes went from grey to brown, and his nose and ears grew different, his goatee became a full beard. "I am a metamorphagus." he changed back to his normal self, with a bald head and goatee coming back. "Second." Mark smiled. "I have some of the same researching magic as Hermione, though not as prominent."

"What about you, Troy?" Neville asked. "What do you have that is special?"

Troy looked a little surprised then. "You mean you can't tell?" This caused the new marauders group to frown at each other, looking confused.

"Is it obvious? Or are we missing something?" Ron asked.

"It can't be your problem solving alone…" Hermione stated. "I mean, that isn't really unique, or magical."

"I understand that you are an excellent Quidditch player." Harry stated. "Your record for most Quaffle goals still stands, and no one has even gotten close to it."

"I know you have a lot of magical power too, though we only saw it when you flew the Wizard ship by yourself." Luna supplied.

"It can't be your family name. It is famous, but also infamous. And you never really pursued a Quidditch career." Ginny said.

"No, he is a curse-breaker." Mark supplied. "He took the most difficult path in wizardry career, and most dangerous. Troy also did some auror training, so he qualifies as an auror too." He smiled then, "The reason Troy isn't Secretary of Arcane Affairs is because he has complete lack of interest in politics, he is a man of action." Troy smirked.

"I think I got it." Ron suddenly said. "You don't have any uniqueness like us, because your power is equally balanced. You don't do one thing best, because you do them all equally. You don't have the special latent abilities we have, but you understand them and know how to best utilize them. You can do more than one spell at a time, because you have the ability to keep one going while concentrating on another. I don't know what you call this…"

"It isn't called anything, it is a title." Krystal said. She looked at her husband. "He is an Archmage. There have only been six in the world. He is also the first American Archmage." She turned back to Harry. "Merlin, Agrippa, Nicolas Flamel, and Circe are the most well known, but you also knew one."

"Dumbledore." Harry said, realizing it suddenly. Krystal smiled and nodded. And so there it was. Harry Potter realized now that he was in the presence of a man who could be considered equal to Dumbledore. Troy Stardancer was more than a wizard. He was a wizard supreme, as many would call it. He was an archmage, a wizard of unsurpassed skill and strength. Now he understood why the dark wizards of America was keen on finding him and containing or killing him; Troy was the most dangerous wizard to oppose them, and he was trained in Britain, which made him even more dangerous to them. And yet, Troy wasn't very old (thirty three, from the accounts he made comparing Troy's age at Hogwarts to when his own father was there). Harry knew that Archmages grew more powerful as they got older…he suspected that Troy would be more powerful than Dumbledore if (or when) he reached the age Dumbledore was when Harry first met him.

"It's almost time to move to the Salem Underhouse." Troy said abruptly. The Salem Underhouse was the most secret of the safe houses, Harry realized. It was built underneath the wizard city as a bolt hole for those who needed it. Only a select few knew about it, and everyone that did was in this room. It was Troy's contingency place to go if the government ever fell to dark forces. It was also a perfect place to stage the assault on the Lewis Estate-as one of the secret exits was at the opposite bank of the Estate. The Underhouse was also under the fidelius charm, with Krystal being secret-keeper. A new air of anticipation and urgency befell the group. Tomorrow was the (hopefully) final assault on the Dark Forces which were disrupting America. For Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Neville, and Luna, it was the finality of eliminating the last vestiges of Voldemort, and finally a chance to put an end to the Death Eaters.

**A/N: For those keeping up with my writings, you noticed I have mentioned many cryptids (legendary and debatable existing creatures) from America. The Thunderbird is legendary in Native American Folklore. And everyone heard of Sasquatch, or commonly known as Bigfoot (if you haven't, which rock have you hiding under?). Many of you also may have heard of Chuparcabas (Hispanic for "goatsucker"). But few may have heard of Couatls, wolfentingers, and wendigos…so I will explain it from what I learned…and how I use it in my fan fiction. **

**Couatls are mythical wing serpents (You can't really say snake…it is too demeaning) in ancient Aztec and Mayan cultures…you may have heard of the Aztec God Quetzalcoatl, which the name is derived from. Unlike snakes in common folklore, Couatls were known to be beneficial to mankind, and was worshipped as Gods by the Aztecs.**

**Wolfentinger is actually derived from the German named Wolpertinger. The version I am creating in my fan fiction, however is Americanized to distinguish it. In German folklore, Wolpertingers are described just as I did; not only rabbits, but squirrels were also known to have fangs, wings and antlers. In America, the legendary beast closely described would be called a Jackalope (a Jack rabbit with antlers, but no fangs, snakelike eyes, or wings). Of course we know that no creature like that truly exists (?) but it fit perfectly in adding additional magical creatures for Hagrid to try and make for pets!**

**Wendigo is a Canadian/American mythical creature said to be an American form of Grim (omen of death). There are many legends to Wendigos; one being a man who resorting to cannibalism in order to survive, becoming a Bigfoot type of glowing creature. Another is similar, but described as a slimy corpse-like creature with a glowing symbol on it's head. Another is an evil spirit which foretells disasters and death by screaming (similar to the Irish Banshee). **

**Thanks for reading, the final 2 chapters are being worked on now, along with an epilogue on what happens to the American Wizards that survived the American Magical Civil War.**


End file.
